While on a royal outing to Lancaster Castle, Charles admitted to his love for a very strange snack during a candid chat with local business owners
King Charles has admitted his love for a very unusual snack during a royal engagement to Lancashire, where he spoke candidly with business owners about local produce. Charles visited Lancaster Castle, where he took part in the historic Ceremony of the Keys and spoke to D-Day veterans, before turning his attention to local food vendors.
During a candid chat with Butlers’ Farmhouse Cheeses owner Gillian Hale that he loves to indulge in eating sheep’s cheese on a digestive biscuit. The King smelt a number of the cheeses on display but opted not to try any, while Ms Hale said: “We’re going to send some to him later in a goody bag. He was so gracious.”
Despite his particular taste for sheep’s cheese, the indulgent snack is not a regular occurrence for Charles, as he told the BBC in 2022 how he abstains from meat and fish on two days of the week and that he also avoids dairy on one of those days.
King Charles has long been a champion of organic foods and sustainable farming practices, opting to follow a largely natural diet for more than 40 years. In 1990, he even launched his own organic range, called Duchy Originals, and has spoken extensively about conservation matters and the importance of maintaining biodiversity in nature.
In 2017, Prince Charles warned that the “very future of humanity” may depend on organic farming, as he addressed the audience at the 70th anniversary of of the Soil Association in London.
Charles said his own road to becoming an organic farmer started in the 1980s when he decided to find a way of producing food at his Gloucestershire estate outside of “conventional and industrialised” agricultural practices.
Rumours of the King’s other unusual eating habits have been put to rest over the years, with Jeremy Paxman claiming in his 2006 book titled On Royalty that Charles demanded seven eggs to be boiled for him a day by Palace kitchen staff – only eating one to make sure it was cooked to perfection.
Charles was forced to hit back at the claims in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Clarence House website, with one reading: “Does The Prince of Wales have seven boiled eggs cooked for his breakfast but only eat one, as claimed in Jeremy Paxman’s book On Royalty?” The royal reply said: “No, he doesn’t and never has done, at breakfast or any other time.”
While at Lancaster Castle where Charles candidly shared his unusual snacking preferences, he was also given a neck tie and some gloves for the Queen from Northern Yarn, with business owner Kate Makin saying: “He was really interested in the regenerative farming and the local wools we use.”
The King, who is also the Duke of Lancaster, was greeted at the Lancaster railway station from the royal train by the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, Amanda Parker.
As part of an ancient ceremonial tradition, Charles was also handed the keys to the castle in front of the John O’Gaunt gateway. The reigning monarch has taken part in the Ceremony of the Keys with each visit to the castle since 1851, when the keys were first presented to Queen Victoria, with Queen Elizabeth also receiving the honour in 2015.
Despite the warm welcome Charles received at Lancaster Castle by royal fans, a group of anti-monarch protestors were also waiting outside the castle grounds with placards and chants of “not my king”, “abolish the monarchy” and “ditch the Duchy”.
