We all have our guilty pleasures, and Queen Elizabeth II definitely had a few, from her favorite comfort food to her pre-noon cocktail. (Hey, when you’re the queen, you make your own rules!) But as it turns out, she also had quite the sweet tooth. And according to one of her ladies-in-waiting, the late queen loved it so much that she kept a secret stash hidden from the other royals in her household, including her husband, Prince Philip.
So was it a slice of cake? Some figgy pudding? A fancy French pastry we can’t properly pronounce? None of the above! Read on for the big reveal.
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Which sweet treat did Queen Elizabeth hide from her family?
Chocolate! Lady Pamela Hicks, the queen’s cousin and former lady-in-waiting, revealed that Elizabeth always had a box with her. And, it seems, Her Majesty wasn’t too keen on sharing it with anyone.
“She does have her own box of chocolates,” said Lady Pamela in the 2022 ITV documentary My Years with the Queen, which came out just a few months before the queen’s death. “But she has learnt to keep it in her room. Otherwise, she says the family are so greedy, they all eat them before she can.”
Lady Pamela apparently knew this firsthand. The queen regularly stayed over at her cousin’s estate at Broadlands in Hampshire, about two hours west of London, and even spent her wedding night there. And according to Lady Pamela, she always arrived with two boxes of chocolate in her bag, one for herself (which she hid immediately) and one for the family.
Did this always work?
No. But it wasn’t always due to those “greedy” family members—well, the human ones, anyway. As Lady Pamela shares in the documentary, the queen’s pet mongoose, Neola, regularly found the monarch’s secret stash.
“One evening, we were waiting for her to come down for dinner,” Lady Pamela recalls. “It was very unusual for the queen that she was four or five minutes late. And she said to me, ‘I don’t mind Neola coming into my room. In fact, I quite enjoy it. I don’t mind Neola opening my box of chocolates, but does he have, always, to take just a bite out of every one?’”
Good question—and bad Neola!
Which chocolates were the queen’s favorite?
She favored luxury chocolates and pralines from her go-to brand, Charbonnel et Walker (a London chocolatier, despite the French name). As former palace chef Darren McGrady said in a radio interview, Elizabeth had “very floral tastes.”
What does that mean, exactly? Here’s Charbonnel et Walker’s official description of the queen’s beloved Rose and Violet Cream: “A royal favourite, our Charbonnel et Walker Rose and Violet Creams are quintessentially English. Our unique fondant recipe is infused with attar of Roses and Violets (the essential oil extracted from the petals). Enrobed in our finest dark chocolate and entirely hand finished with crystallised Rose and Violet petals.”
Tempted? You can order a box here.
What other sweets did she indulge in?
She also loved a chocolate biscuit cake. This is, again, according to McGrady, who told Today Food, “This cake is probably the only one that is sent into the royal dining room again and again until it has all gone. It is her favourite cake that she eats until it is all gone.” Elizabeth’s go-to treat is surprisingly easy to make, with just four ingredients: cookies, dark chocolate, sugar and butter.
Fun fact: She loved the cake so much that she insisted on taking any leftovers home. “If there is anything left when she has it at Buckingham Palace, it then goes to Windsor Castle so she can finish it there,” McGrady says. “I used to travel on the train from London to Windsor Castle with the biscuit cake in a tin on my knee. It was half eaten.”
Elizabeth also had a sweet spot for something called chocolate perfection pie. “It’s layers of chocolate mousse, a layer of cinnamon cream and a layer of meringue,” McGrady explained. And he says it wasn’t reserved for just lunches and dinners; he also served it when other monarchs or presidents came to visit.
Are there more chocoholics in the royal family?
Yes! Elizabeth was in good company:
- Prince William and Princess Kate reportedly had the queen’s beloved chocolate biscuit cake for their wedding. During their Caribbean tour in 2022, they visited a chocolate farm in Belize, and William jokingly asked if he could work there as an apprentice, saying, “It’s my kind of thing.”
- Princess Diana was known for her down-to-earth chocolate taste. While she could have afforded the fanciest chocolates around, the late Princess of Wales opted for Cadbury’s Twirls as her regular treat.
- Prince Harry hasn’t been caught snacking in public, but he recently featured in a video promoting Meghan’s As Ever collaboration with Compartés chocolates.
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Sources:
- My Years with the Queen
- The Kyle & Jackie O’Show
- Today: “Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite cake: chocolate biscuit cake”
- Simple Recipes: “The 4-ingredient chocolate cake Queen Elizabeth never shared (It’s that good)”
- People: “Find out the queen’s lifelong secret to staying slim – and get her favorite pie recipe from the palace chef!”
- Bustle: “Princess Diana was a big fan of this Cadbury’s classic”
- The Independent: “Meghan shares rare home video surprising Harry before Valentine’s Day”
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