Former chef scoffs at royal family’s ‘boring’ Christmas Day lunch

Charles will have the chipper chicken.

King Charles’ Christmas lunch meal has been revealed — and even his former chef isn’t impressed by what’s on the menu.

Darren McGrady, 61, a Nottinghamshire chef who once cooked for members of the monarchy, opened up about the royal family’s holiday tradition in a new interview.

The firm tends to celebrate at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, each year.

“It was the same meal every year. They’re actually boring when it comes to festivities. They didn’t do hams or anything, just traditional turkeys,” he recently told OK magazine.

He continued: “We did three turkeys for the queen and her family in the royal dining room, one for the children’s nursery and then more for the 100 or so staff, so everyone had a Christmas lunch.”

McGrady has also reportedly cooked for Princess Diana. Since Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 on Sept. 8, 2022, the chef expects that the king will stick to what he had last year. Most likely, his main course will be accompanied by mashed and roast potatoes, onion stuffing, brussel sprouts, carrots, roast parsnips and two sauces of either cranberry or bread.

Charles and his loved ones — Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton and the Cambridges’ children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, will have to make room for dessert though.

Later in the evening, they will most likely feast on pudding, which tends to be brought into the dining room by the palace steward – hot and “flaming.”

The royal family’s big day actually kicks off with a personal breakfast before heading over to St. Mary Magdalene Church for an 11 a.m. service. After lunch and a supper filled with roasted hams and boar’s head, they all gather to watch the monarch’s Christmas message on television.

It’s unlikely that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will join this year amid their ongoing feud with the family after stepping down as senior roles in 2020. Last year, they also remained home in Montecito, California, to quietly celebrate the holiday with their children — son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 2.

The couple were last photographed at Sandringham service with the royals in 2018.

“The king would love nothing more than to have Christmas with his sons and all his grandchildren, but it’s not that simple and there is no chance the Sussexes will be coming,” a source told Vanity Fair.