‘It’s like a posh Toby Carvey’, King Charles’ ex-butler reveals what it’s really like to have Christmas with the Royals
THE royal family may be worth billions and have glittering palaces – but their Christmas dinner is like a “posh Toby Carvery”, according to a royal butler.
Grant Harrold, who worked for Charles from 2004 to 2011, said the likes of His Majesty, Prince William and Princess Kate are served an evening buffet.
Following their annual church visit and more formal Christmas lunch, food is laid out for the royal family at Sandringham in the evening.
Speaking to Fabulous, Grant shared: “For lunch, it’s a served meal because the staff are there, but then in the evening, they do a buffet. So the staff get the time off.
“And the buffet is just bits coming back out again, which shows you nothing goes to waste.”
Grant shared how typically the royals tuck into goose, turkey or beef for their Christmas Day celebrations.
He continued: “It’s almost like going to Toby Carvery, isn’t it? They’ve got all the selections put in front of you.
“A very fancy Toby Carvery.
“What’s also nice about the royal family is they get dressed up for those kinds of occasions.
“You can imagine them having their black tie and things on.”
Darren McGrady, the former chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Diana Princess of Wales and Princes William and Harry, revealed exactly what goes into the royals’ Christmas meals.
The main lunch includes a “salad with shrimp or lobster, and a roasted turkey, and all of your traditional side dishes like parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts and Christmas pudding with brandy butter for dessert.”
As in many households around the UK, the menu for Christmas day doesn’t change and is the same year after year.
Unlike in the US, appetisers and canapés are avoided and only reserved for New Year’s Eve.
Darren continued: “The Royals are of German descent so they weave in German traditions to their celebrations.
“After afternoon tea, they open gifts on Christmas Eve, as is the German tradition.
“Christmas morning, the family eats a hardy breakfast before heading off to church.
“After church, that’s when they have a big lunch”.
After everyone has finished tucking into their food, the Royal Family gathers to watch the King’s Christmas speech.
Following this they have time to relax before meeting together later on for afternoon tea and Christmas fruitcake.
In the evening they will enjoy their lavish buffet lunch, with 16-20 different items spread out for them to choose from and chefs on hand to carve the meat.
Inside the Royal Family’s extravagant Christmas Eve celebrations
SARAH Hewson, royal editor at Talk TV, said the Royal Family typically gather on Christmas Eve to kickstart the celebrations.
She added: “The little royals – George, Charlotte and Louis and Camilla’s grandchildren – will help finish decorating the tree.
“Then, the royal family and all their guests will place their gifts on a trestle table in the red drawing room and they will open them at tea time, a German tradition introduced by Prince Albert.
“And contrary to what we might expect when you think about a royal Christmas, there are no diamonds under the tree.
“They actually give joke gifts – Kate once, when he was single, gave Harry a Grow Your Own girlfriend kit, and apparently Meghan’s present to the Queen on her first Christmas at Sandringham with a singing hamster.
Sussex invite
Prince Harry has reportedly not been invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family, according to a royal expert.
The California-based Duke of Sussex last spent the festive period with his family six years ago, and has only done two with wife Meghan Markle.
Former royal correspondent Emily Andrews wrote in Woman: “Prince Harry is keen to spend the Christmas holidays in the UK with his wife and children — but Meghan wants to stay in the US.
“It’s a tricky time for Harry — he hasn’t spent Christmas here for six years and he could be forgiven for feeling rather lonely and estranged from his Windsor relatives.”
Typically the royal family flock to Sandringham for the Christmas period and attend church together on Christmas day.
Prince Harry and Meghan have spent a total of two Christmases together with the extended royal family for the traditional celebrations.
The first was in 2017 when they were an engaged couple, and the second was in 2018 following their royal wedding.
They spent Christmas privately in 2019 on Vancouver Island, just before they announced they were stepping down as senior royals in 2020.