Prince Philip by Nigel Cawthorne

Author:Nigel Cawthorne
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783340811
Publisher: Gibson Square
Published: 2015-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

Food and Drink

For a man of simple tastes, Prince Philip complained about the rich food served up at state dinners. ‘I never see any home cooking,’ he said. ‘All I get is fancy stuff.’ Examining the French menu at one gala bash, he remarked sarcastically: ‘Oh good, fish and chips again.’

The entertainment was up to much at state banquets either. After a particularly boring speech, he said to toast-master Ivor Spencer: ‘At least you get paid for this.’

In 1964, he did conceded that ‘British food is like a small child. When it’s good it’s very, very good’ when it’s bad, it’s absolutely awful.’ But, he rued in 2007: ‘Lunches are seldom free.’

Tony Blair also recounted how during a weekend barbecue at Balmoral – ‘a vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal and the utterly freaky’ – Prince Philip did the cooking while the Queen donned rubber gloves and washed the dishes. This might be due to the Prince’s school of thought that, as he mentioned to the Scottish Women’s Institute in1961, ‘British women can’t cook.’

The royal couple had problem with the thick icing on an elaborate fruit cake at the 250th anniversary of the opening of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The cake, which was shaped like Kew’s famous Palm House and took sixty hours to bake was resistant to the Queen’s cake knife, prompting Philip to shout: ‘Cut it properly. Press down harder!’ The Queen scowled at Philip before stepping aside and suggesting he take the knife. He then said: ‘Let’s just check if it really is a cake because sometimes they aren’t.’ Confirming that it was a real cake, he launched into a number of confectionary jokes.

Early on in their marriage, the royal couple had other problems with cake. They were crossing the water to Vancouver Island in Canada. The weather was unsettled and the ship was rocking violent. Just as a young petty officer arrived in the royal suite, the ship lurched and the tray of tea cakes he was holding crashed to the floor. The prince fell to his knees and helped to gather them up. After retrieving a handful of cakes, he returned to his seat. Turning to Princess Elizabeth he remarked, ‘I’ve got mine – yours are down there.’

At the Royal Dairy Show in 1965, he said: ‘None of the beef I have eaten at this age is edible.’

After competing in Hungary in 2004, he said: ‘The most dangerous part of that tournament was visiting the Hungarian camp, because whatever the time of day, they gave you a glass of peach brandy and you were lucky to escape with your life.’ The food was also a danger. He famously told a British visitor in Budapest in 1993: ‘You can’t have been here long – you haven’t got a pot belly.’

On being offered the finest Italian wines to wash down the exquisite young goat and chestnut served up by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato at a dinner in Rome in 2000, Prince Philip declined, saying: ‘Get me a beer.

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