Burger Queen! Royal chef shares the unique way the Queen has her burger

When you’re the Queen of England with a team of some of the world’s most talented chefs at your disposal anything you say goes, so if the Queen says she wants a burger she gets it made to her exact specifications.

Darren McGrady, a former royal chef who worked at Buckingham Palace from 1982 to 1993, revealed to Insider that while the 96-year-old Monarch does crave a good burger she prefers to have the fast food meal in a less traditional sense.

“It always tickled me at Balmoral, we would make our own burgers,” McGrady said, before explaining how he would make venison burgers out of deer shot by the royals during their hunting trip earlier in the day.

McGrady would then stuff the meat patties with delicious ingredients and instead of opting for a classic condiment like tomato sauce or mustard, the Queen’s burger is served with cranberry sauce.

If that wasn’t already fancy enough, McGrady also revealed that buns were not part of the final meal.

“They would have burgers, but not the buns. So they would eat it with their knife and fork,” he said.

But the Queen’s aversion to hamburger buns isn’t because she prefers a low-carb diet, but rather “Her Majesty’s Victorian upbringing dictates that the only thing you would pick up and eat with your fingers is afternoon tea,” McGrady explains.

The revelation of the Queen’s burger was so interesting that online takeaway company FoodHub decided to replicate the burger.

Queen’s favourite burger ‘Ma’amburger’ delivered to Buckingham Palace by Foodhubhttps://t.co/XVlSuGIX1i

— Mirror Royal (@MirrorRoyal) August 24, 2021

“We know the public love tasting new burgers, so we thought we’d introduce them to one of The Queen’s favourite snacks—which we’ve called the Ma’amburger” Foodhub CEO Ardian Mula had previously told the Mirror.

“Once we found out Queen Elizabeth loved a burger with no bun and smothered in cranberry sauce, we knew we had to recreate it and offer our customers the chance to live like royalty for the day.”

While the Queen’s burger is a little outside the norm, the rest of Her Majesty’s diet is incredibly normal and favours a more simple plate.

In an interview with The Telegraph in 2015, McGrady explained to the publication that, unlike her late husband, Prince Philip, the Queen “is not a foodie” and instead “eats to live.”

“For breakfast, the Queen likes cereal – usually Special K – and fruit,” he said. 

Given Queen Elizabeth is known to be a creature of habit, Kellogs has been a long-term cereal supplier to the royal household and even has the royal warrant to prove it. 

When not having her usual fruit and cereal, the Queen enjoys scrambled eggs and smoked salmon topped with grated truffle. However, McGrady revealed that the Queen is “too frugal” to order truffles regularly and “really enjoyed them at Christmas when the truffles were sent as a gift.”

Her Royal Highness also has a tray of Twinnings’ Earl Grey tea brought to her room when she wakes up at 7:30 in the morning and if you’re wondering, Taste of Home reports the Queen has her tea with a splash of milk and no sugar.