Camilla will want coronation menu free from chilli and garlic, her son says

Food critic Tom Parker Bowles said the Queen Consort is not a fan of spicy food.

Tom Parker Bowles said his mother, the Queen Consort, loves fresh fish and vegetables (Jacob King/PA) (PA Archive)

The Queen Consort will want her coronation day menu to be free of chilli and garlic, her son, the food critic Tom Parker Bowles, has revealed.

Camilla is not a fan of “massive spice”, but loves fresh fish and vegetables, and the “incredibly talented” royal head chef Mark Flanagan will be in charge of any royal feasts at Buckingham Palace, he said.

Mr Parker Bowles told The News Agents podcast his mother dislikes chilli and will want to keep her breath fresh from garlic while greeting guests.

The late Queen Elizabeth II also did not care for spicy food, and was not a fan of soup, but liked lamb, roast beef, mutton, grouse and salmon.

The King has also confessed in the past that he likes everything unless it is “a bit too spicy”.

Asked by hosts Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel about the food his mother would not like served at the coronation, Mr Parker Bowles said: “Chilli, garlic. I think that garlic can make your breath smell somewhat so I think just for purely social reasons you wouldn’t have garlic.”

He added: “She doesn’t like chilli. She doesn’t like massive spice. And I think if you’re walking around, and I do not speak from experience on this, but you’re walking around and meeting lots of people… I think you have to be a little bit careful not to get the tummy too excited.”

Food writer Mr Parker Bowles, who has written several cookery books, said: “She just loves fresh fish and fresh vegetables. She has a really nice vegetable garden at home… Her peaches that she grows.”

He praised his mother as a good cook. The Queen Consort is known for her signature dish, roast chicken.

Mr Parker Bowles also questioned the merits of coronation chicken, created by Constance Spry for Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.

He said in its original incarnation it “wasn’t that bad” but “what happened over the years is it became this awful, turgid, sad, sort of gloopy mess, yellow, horrid”.

Charles and Camilla have personally chosen Coronation Quiche, made with spinach, broad beans and tarragon, for the celebratory dish to mark their historic crowning.

The full interview with Mr Parker Bowles is available on The News Agents podcast on Global Player from 5pm on Thursday.