Inside Royal Family's relaxed summer BBQs at Balmoral
Balmoral, the sovereign’s private residence in Scotland, has been a safe haven since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the estate in the 1850s.
Spanning more than 50,000 acres, the Scottish Highland hideaway has 167 rooms, including 52 dedicated sleeping quarters. Each summer, the British royal family high-tails it to the historic castle, where relaxed family meals and barbecues are a staple, according to former royal chef Darren McGrady.
Barbecues at Balmoral are a family affair
Speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins Casino, McGrady, who spent 15 years working for the Crown, gave insight into exactly how the royals would prep for al fresco dining excursions at Balmoral.
“You’d often get Princess Anne come down to the kitchen and say: 'I’m in charge of the first course tonight, what can I take?'"
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Explaining that Prince Philip was the ‘most passionate of cooks in the kitchen’, McGrady continued: “They would go off and take barbecues at Balmoral. He loved to cook and cared about foods and recipes.
"He’d go on to ask what we could marinate them with and what vegetables were in the garden,” he reported.
The ex-royal personal chef said that, like his son, King Charles III, the Duke of Edinburgh, ‘loved’ plucking local produce.
"He’d often walk the gardens and see what was in there. He loved local produce. Then he would be in charge of cooking the main course.”
While Anne, Princess Royal and her father were in charge of the first course and main meal, Prince Edward would sort out dessert.
The current Duke of Edinburgh would apparently want to make pancakes, with staff making the batter for him.
“He’d want to fill them with things like raspberries or strawberries from the garden with ice cream,” McGrady said.
"They worked as a family on creating this meal, which they loved. They weren’t afraid to let their hair down and get stuck in.”
Princess Diana felt ‘out of place’ at Balmoral
McGrady used the opportunity to claim that Diana, Princess of Wales, ‘didn’t like Balmoral at all’.
"It wasn’t her - she wasn’t an outdoor person or into horse riding because she fell off a horse when she was young.
"For her, the closest she would get was pulling and walking William [Prince of Wales] with his little Shetland pony, Smokey, around the estate. That was as close as she got to the horses.”
Instead, Diana allegedly preferred to be in Kensington so that she may rise and sleep early.
"Dinner for her was 6.30pm, but if the royal family were dining, she couldn’t go to eat or go to bed at her usual time. They would often go out to the hills and didn’t come back until 11pm at night.”
Ella Scott