Fans of The Crown have found themselves caught up in the drama of the Royal Family, especially invested in the cringe love triangle between Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker-Bowles. But the newest chapter in the Netflix original has also drawn attention to a particularly interesting plot point rooted in absolute truth: Charles’ aversion to eating lunch.
Throughout the new season, the Crown Prince’s eating habits are casually mentioned by his family. Charles likes a lot of things — painting, riding horses, Camilla — but a daytime meal is not one of them. Whereas I wake up with lunch on the brain, the next-in-line for the throne simply isn’t into it. He just...skips it.
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Josh O’Connor, who currently stars as the prince, is just as intrigued by Charles’ avoidance of a mid-day snack as the rest of the world is. It’s perhaps the one thing he really wants to ask the royal about.
“I’d definitely ask [Charles] if it’s true that he doesn’t eat lunch and [if] he has a boiled egg with every meal,” the actor told Vulture in 2019. “Apparently, it’s true. I need to know the facts. I need to know the truth.”
The Crown is a biographical drama that adds its own spice to historical facts, but O'Connor will be pleased (or troubled) to know that this is one truth that even Buckingham Palace can’t deny. According to Charles' official website, the prince hasn't eat lunch in years, but it's for a practical reason. Stopping when he feels peckish in the middle of the day takes time away from royal duties and appearances, so Charles just doesn't do it anymore.
"It's good in a way, because it means he has time to meet more people," one royal insider explained to the Daily Mail in 2004. "It can be a problem sometimes. When we do day visits or foreign tours, he can go the whole day without stopping for a break, which means we all have to miss our lunch as well."
The Crown is really telling us a lot about these royals.