However, Her Majesty has a particular meal that she's eaten every day since her youth. According to the royal's former personal chef Darren McGrady, she loves eating her tried-and-true “jam penny” every day, which has been a staple in her diet for many years.
Paddington has been around almost as long as the Queen, and it's well known that marmalade is his favorite food. Meanwhile, though the Queen apparently enjoyed having marmalade and toast for breakfast, it's probably safe to say she didn't actually keep sandwiches of any kind in her purse.
The snack in question, jam pennies, is a crustless jam and butter sandwich cut into circles the size of an old English penny. The Queen's favorite was strawberry jam, preferably the one made with strawberries from the gardens of Balmoral Castle.
Former Royal Chef Darren McGrady says that Queen Elizabeth ate her favorite snack, jam sandwiches (aka jam pennies), every day for more than 90 years. She first tried jam pennies as a little girl at her nursery, and has been a fan every since. They're called jam pennies because they're the size of an old English penny.
Simple cooked meat and vegetables lead the way, with space for pheasant or venison should the Queen wish. Of course, Queen Elizabeth loved a Sunday roast just as much as anyone else. Along with chocolate, the Queen enjoyed some strawberries or peaches for dessert.
Tuna mayonnaise sandwiches
A former royal chef recently claimed the Queen's favourite sandwich was tuna mayonnaise. He said that the sandwich always had to be generously buttered and topped with thin slices of cucumber, plus a sprinkle of black pepper on top.
The Queen is reportedly not a fan of rare meat - according to former royal chef Darren McGrady, she likes her meat well done. Royals are also prohibited from eating foods containing raw meat such as steak tartare when on official engagements to avoid food poisoning.
In England, cookies or crackers are called biscuits. A piece in Hello! revealed that her all-time favorite biscuits were Chocolate Bath Olivers which are crunchy cookies enrobed in chocolate. These treats are kind of a pre-breakfast.
As a young girl, Princess Elizabeth's favorite food was jam pennies–tiny, crustless sandwiches made with white bread, strawberry jam, and butter. The affinity for these little finger sandwiches extended into her adult life and throughout her reign.
Well, according to Darren McGrady, a former chef who worked for the Royal Family for over 10 years, the Queen prefered jam first. He tweeted: “The Queen always had home-made Balmoral jam first with clotted cream on top at Buckingham Palace garden parties in the royal tea tent and all royal tea parties.”
And if you want to be really fancy, add a bit of strawberry jam to it, he explains. (And just so happens to be the Queen's flavor of choice.) “We'd make the jam at Balmoral Castle with gorgeous Scottish strawberries from the gardens,” he said, according to The List.
According to the royal chef Darren, "Her favourite dish was bell peppers stuffed with zucchini, mushrooms, rice, garlic topped with Parmesan and mozzarella and finished with a smoked tomato and pepper sauce."
This delicacy was the 'jam penny' - which The Queen was served as a little girl and has eaten for Afternoon Tea ever since, said Mr McGrady. He said the timeless recipe was 'just bread and jam with a little butter, usually strawberry jam.
The Queen then opened her handbag and took out a sandwich. “So do I. I keep mine here...for later,” she said. Her response left the fictional character surprised.
In an interview earlier this year, Darren McGrady, a former royal chef, said that the queen spread a layer of jam on her scone, then added cream. That jam-first method in known as the Cornish style — versus the Devonshire style, which layers cream first.
And, according to McGrady, while the Queen eats the same breakfast pretty much every day (Earl Grey tea and a bowl of Special K cereal) and opts for simple dishes like grilled chicken or grilled fish (alongside a gin cocktail or the occasional chocolate) for the rest of the day, it's the “jam penny” sandwich that she's ...
As for her choice of brew? Reports are conflicting, but her former staff have cited her partiality to Darjeeling tea, as well as Assam and Earl Grey, with no sugar. If you're wondering what cereal The Queen ate, her choice was apparently Kellogg's Special K, although she also dabbled with Quaker Oats and Weetabix.
For breakfast she keeps things simple. Royal biographer, Katie Nicholl, has previously said: "HRH typically starts with a simple cup of tea and biscuits, followed by a bowl of cereal." (The Guardian previously reported she likes to keep it in Tupperware to preserve its freshness.)
chocolate biscuit cake from the British royal kitchen
Chocolate biscuit cake is Queen Elizabeth's favorite cake ~ she would take a small slice every day with her tea, until the cake was finished, and then she'd start on a fresh one!
According to McGrady, the royal chef bakes various cakes for snacking on in Buckingham Palace but there is one cake the Queen particularly likes, and enjoys a slice every single day. “The chocolate biscuit cake is the only cake that goes back again and again and again everyday until it's all gone,” McGrady said.
The Queen starts her day with a cup of tea
After a bath, the Queen then often joins her husband, Prince Philip, for cereal.
The Bombe Glacée Royale
It's long been known that the Queen has a sweet tooth, particularly when it comes to chocolate, so it's no surprise that her go-to dessert is a rich, mint and chocolatey delight known as a Bombe Glacée Royale.
According to the former royal chef, Darren McGrady, the Queen is not only not a fan of pizza, but during his 15 years as chef at Buckingham Palace, he never saw her eat it.
Queen Elizabeth II has eaten jam sandwiches every day since she was a toddler, according to her former private chef.
"Every day begins with an egg, and they're eaten for tea, too – with crumpets, if you're Prince Charles. The Queen favours brown eggs, believing that they taste better. Her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, ate her boiled egg, served in a golden egg cup, with a golden spoon."