The Queen Banned Meghan Markle's Favorite Food From The Palace Menu, Apparently
I'm a healthy eater, for the most part. The kind of girl who limits bad carbs and unhealthy fats and eats mostly fruits, vegetables, lean meat, and whole grains. BAHAHAHA, who am I kidding? There are plenty of days when nothing will satisfy me except for, say, a big bowl of pasta doused in parmesan. You know, like when it's cold and rainy outside or 10 a.m. on a Sunday and I'm hungover AF. But you know who won't be reaching for the fusilli any time soon? The Duchess of Sussex. At least not when she's visiting her granny-in-law at Buckingham Palace, since a royal rule bans Meghan Markle's favorite food from the palace menu, and OMFG for the first time in, like, ever, I'm actually glad I'm not her.
Seriously you guys, I need to know if Markle knew about this before she said "I do," because not gonna lie, the whole pasta ban would have been a deal breaker for me. So why is the Palace a noodle-free zone? Because, apparently, the queen isn't down with starchy foods.
Oh, and get this: according to the Daily Express, rice and potatoes are also banned from the menu at Buckingham Palace. Elite Daily reached out to the palace for comment regarding this report, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Anyway, royal chef Darren McGrady dropped the queen’s no-carb rule during an interview with RecipePlus, saying she steers clear of pasta and has never had rice or potatoes on the palace menu, opting instead for grilled fish or chicken and in-season vegetables, big bowls of salad, and fresh fruit. I'm guessing this won't be an easy transition for Markle, who told The New Potato back in 2013 that a "leisurely dinner of seafood and pasta" was one of her favorite meals, and that Squid Ink Pasta or Pappardelle with Cinghiale on a menu always catch her eye.
Tough break, Megs.
The duchess also revealed in an interview for Delish.com that one of her go-to dinners is a pasta dish that involves slow-cooking zucchini for four to five hours, until it turns into a "filthy, sexy mush" to toss with some noods. "The sauce gets so creamy, you'd swear there's tons of butter and oil in it," she said. "But it's just zucchini, water, and a little bouillon."
And she admitted that french fries — another no-no thanks to that potato ban — are one of her biggest vices. "I'm always hoping I'm having lunch with people, so we can share fries," she explained. "It's its own food group for me."
Meanwhile, in addition to a ban on pasta, McGrady also revealed that the queen won't eat anything with garlic or too many onions. "We also couldn't serve meat that was rare, as she liked her meat more well done," he said. And while she would enjoy strawberries every day during summer, "Try including strawberries on the menu in January and she'll scrub out the line," he explained. "She absolutely does eat seasonal."
She also, apparently, eats her bananas with a fork and her pears with a spoon. "She eats her pears like boiled eggs," McGrady said. "She'll cut off the top and scoop out the insides."
I don't know if this technique is totally bizarre or inherently brilliant, but for some reason, I suddenly want to try and make it happen.
Luckily, it seems this rule doesn't apply to Meghan's life outside of Buckingham Palace, so I guess she'll just have to steer clear of the palace whenever she's in the mood for noodles.