This Is the One Food Royals Can't Eat, According to Duchess Camilla
In news that will come as a shock for many lovers of a certain bulbous, delicious ingredient, there is apparently one food and one food only that royals aren’t allowed to eat. Found in cultures’ cuisines around the world, it seems as though the humble but decidedly supreme garlic isn’t allowed on royal plates. Much like not wearing red nail polish, messy buns (unless you’re Meghan Markle, that is), and going sans nylons, this is apparently as much a matter of royal protocol as any. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, appeared on MasterChef Australia earlier this week and explained exactly why.
“I hate to say this, but garlic. Garlic is a no-no,” the duchess said.
“So garlic is a no-no?” one of the show’s judges asked. “Because you’re talking, chatting?”
“Yes, exactly. So you always have to lay off the garlic,” she said.
This news is, to be sure, exceptionally tragic—but it’s not the first time the royal family has come out as anti-garlic. Back in 2016, we discovered that Queen Elizabeth II is royally averse to the stuff (the Queen, let it be said, is “not a foodie at all”). As it turns out, it seems as though she might have set a bit of a precedent.
As former Buckingham Palace kitchen chef Darren McGrady said all the way back then, “When [the Queen] was at the table, there was no garlic at all,” he said. “She was very Victorian and believed when she was brought up that you don’t eat garlic—because if you were holding an audience the next day, you didn’t want to be breathing garlic. It was seen as antisocial.”
Just last month, he added that “anything with garlic” as well as anything with “too much onions” would never be on royal plates. “The Queen would never have garlic on the menu,” he added.
The Queen’s reasoning seems pretty similar to the Duchess of Cornwalls, but let’s be real: This is 2018, and things like breath mints, gum, and super-extra strength toothpaste are available to avoid offending international guests with garlicky breath.
We all know Markle has given up a lot to become a Duchess, and this means she will also have to cancel garlic—an ingredient that she loved to mix in her recipe for a Filipino-style chicken. We hereby humbly submit a petition to the Queen: Stock up on the minty stuff, and cut loose on the garlic. You won’t look back.
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