The Queen favourite sandwich and perfect afternoon tea revealed by royal chef

The Queen has eaten the snack every day since she was five

The Queen
(Image credit: Getty)
Robyn Morris
By Robyn Morris
published

A former royal chef has revealed the Queen's perfect daily afternoon tea, which involves jam sandwiches!

Former royal chef, Darren McGrady, worked for the Royal Family for 15 years after received his formal training at the renowned Savoy Hotel in London.

And in a Youtube video to mark the return of garden parties at Buckingham Palace, Darren revealed that one of The Queen's favourite afternoon treats is jam pennies - aka jam sandwiches.

He said: "The Queen was served jam pennies in the nursery as a little girl, she’s had them for afternoon tea ever since."

Revealing how to make the simple treat, he added: "Simple, just bread and jam with a little butter - usually strawberry jam. We’d make the jam at Balmoral Castle with the gorgeous Scottish strawberries from the gardens." 

The Queen

(Image credit: Getty)

Previously revealing the monarch's love of afternoon tea, Darren gave an insight into the Queen's travelling schedule. He said: "She’d always have afternoon tea wherever she was in the world. We’d flown out to Australia and were on the Royal Yacht. It was five o’clock in the morning but for the Queen it was five in the afternoon so my first job was making scones.”

It seems the Queen is a big fan of scones - an afternoon tea staple - as Darren added in another interview: "When I started as a young chef at Buckingham Palace, it was fascinating to see how important afternoon tea was to the Queen. In terms of scones - one day plain and one day with raisins folded through. 

"Also, tiny pastries like raspberry tartlets and a cut cake, honey and cream sponge, fruit cake, banana bread, or her favourite chocolate biscuit cake.It would all be 'washed down with a delightful steaming hot cup of Earl Grey tea."

Sounds delicious to us!

Robyn Morris
Robyn Morris
Entertainment writer - contributor

Robyn is a freelance celebrity journalist with ten years experience in the industry. While studying for a degree in Media and Cultural Studies at London College of Communication, she did internships at Now and Heat magazines. After graduating, she landed a job at Star magazine, where she worked her way up to features editor. She then worked at Future as Deputy Celebrity Content Director across Woman, Woman’s Own, Woman’s Weekly and Woman & Home magazines.

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