There’s a 52p ingredient King Charles reportedly has on top of his afternoon snack and it’s something we’re tempted to try.
For many of us afternoon tea might not feature heavily in our day-to-day lives but it has long been a staple for the Royal Family. The late Queen Elizabeth is said to have enjoyed afternoon tea everyday and last year Princess Eugenie revealed that she was continuing the tradition with her children. For King Charles afternoon tea is perhaps looked forward to all the more as he’s understood to skip lunch in favour of continuing his work. Just like Queen Camilla’s quick healthy snack, King Charles’s afternoon tea snack of choice is incredibly humble and reportedly features an ingredient that can be purchased for as little as 52p.
According to Hello!, Prince Harry apparently claimed in his biography, Spare, that the first time Meghan, Duchess of Sussex met King Charles they had afternoon tea featuring crackers with basil.
This delicious herb might sound like an unusual choice, but the Duke of Sussex suggested that this snack was very popular with his father.
"We came to a round table laid with a white cloth. Beside it stood a trolley with tea: honey cake, flapjacks, sandwiches, warm crumpets, crackers with some creamy spread, shredded basil - Pa's favourite," Harry alleged.
The “creamy spread” wasn’t detailed in the biography, but it sounds like it could have been some kind of cream cheese which would provide the perfect mild accompaniment to the slightly peppery flavour of the basil. King Charles’s snack probably wouldn’t be many people’s first thought when considering what to include in an afternoon tea, but basil is a lovely way to elevate the humble cracker.
It’s also very affordable with packets of this herb available to buy from multiple UK supermarkets from 52p. With this in mind you might want to put the ingredient King Charles has on his crackers on your own version of this snack to give it the ultimate taste test. Given His Majesty’s passion for organic and home-grown produce it’s possible that the basil he reportedly uses comes from one of his own properties.
He and Queen Camilla are known for growing their own vegetables themselves and according to Her Majesty, the royal couple can often get quite competitive about their crops. As per The Independent, the Queen Consort spoke to You magazine with her son, food critic and writer Tom Parker Bowles, and praised her husband’s gardening skills.
“I love the vegetable garden, and summer in particular,” she said. “I’m very proud of my white peaches. My husband is an excellent gardener, and we’re quite competitive about our fruit and vegetables.”
White peaches are something that former royal chef Darren McGrady once divulged were one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourites. As reported by The Sun, he shared that white peaches grow on the Windsor Castle estate and the Queen would eagerly wait for their season.
"The most incredible sweet white Windsor peaches grew on the estate too in my day. We’d have to lock them away in the kitchens because everyone wanted to taste them. The Queen always looked forward to those but she’d have to wait until they were in season,” he declared.
