Queen Elizabeth II is the UK’s most well-travelled monarch so she’s had plenty of opportunities to fine-tune her travel needs. There’s one thing in particular she won’t go on a trip without, it has been revealed. It doesn’t matter how long or short the sojourn is, the Queen always wants to take it. She refuses to travel without a slice of chocolate biscuit cake, according to Darren McGrady, Queen Elizabeth’s former personal chef and author of ‘Eating Royally.’
“Now the Chocolate Biscuit Cake is the only cake that goes back again and again and again every day until it’s all gone,” McGrady told baking website RecipePlus.
“She’ll take a small slice every day until eventually there is only one tiny piece, but you have to send that up, she wants to finish the whole of that cake.”
The Queen loves the cake so much, said McGrady, that a senior chef follows her on the next train with any leftovers of the cake should she leave even a sliver behind.
The chef added that Windsor staff had to steer clear of the cake as the monarch would know if any went missing.
The Queen doesn’t just refuse to travel without cake, she has other strict requirements.
No matter where she goes in the world, there are strict rules regarding one food in particular.
A royal expert has revealed that foreign chefs are given instructions by The Master of the Household department.
Telegraph reporter Gordon Rayner, who has attended 20 royal tours, said they are told not to cook anything with garlic as the Queen won’t eat it.
This strict rule is to avoid giving the Queen bad breath as she will have to greet a number of important people during royal tours.
The same restriction applies to spice. “The Master of the Household department will be in the reconnaissance party to tell foreign chefs not to cook anything with garlic or too much spice for fear of giving the Queen bad breath,” Rayner wrote in The Telegraph.
Not all food rules are related to breath, however, and can prove a matter of life and death.
Foreign chefs are told not to cook shellfish or anything that could cause poisoning.
Much care is also put into the Queen’s packing when she leaves for a royal visit.
While the Queen has scaled back her overseas trips, there are a number of items she always makes sure to travel with.
Her hand luggage will always contain a pair of gloves no matter the occasion.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams explained: “Given the need to shake hands so often they are useful as protection and to stop the spread of infections.”
