A look at the royal family’s strict dining rules

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and U.S. President Barack Obama during a state banquet in Buckingham Palace, London, on Tuesday May 24, 2011.

Lewis Whyld, pool, Associated Press

Every family has a set of manners they are expected to follow at the dinner table — some families like it strict and others prefer to keep it casual. The royal family is no exception to keeping a strict list of dinner etiquette. From banned foods, proper dress and the right way to hold a teacup, the royal family and their dinner guests are expected to follow these strict rules.

Here are 12 strict dining rules followed by the royal family.

It is important that members of the monarchy are always at their best health, which means avoiding high-risk foods like shellfish. They typically do not order a shellfish dish in public.

"When dining, the Royal Family has to be careful with shellfish due to shellfish poisoning, due to their work schedules," former royal butler and etiquette expert Grant Harrold told the Daily Express. "Therefore you will not normally find this on the royal menu."

Apparently Queen Elizabeth II hated garlic so much she banned it from Buckingham Palace.

"We can never serve anything with garlic or too much onions," former royal chef Darren McGrady told RecipesPlus.

John Higgins, another former chef who cooked for the queen, told National Post, "The Queen is a wonderful lady, the royal family are wonderful people but they’re missing out on garlic because at Buckingham Palace you don't cook with garlic."

Foie gras is controversial inside and outside palace walls due to the animal cruelty involved in making the dish. Farmers force-feed ducks and geese corn mash by inserting a tube down their throat — the process takes between 12 to 18 days, per PETA.

In 2008, Andrew Farquharson, deputy master of the household at Clarence House, told the press that then-Prince Charles banned his chefs from purchasing foie gras, per Marie Claire.

Justin Kerswell of campaign group Viva! (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) expressed his support of Charles’ decision to ban foie gras.

"We are very pleased, but foie gras should have been banned a long time ago," said Kerswell, per Marie Claire. "Foie gras is seen as very posh and the heir to the throne is probably the poshest person in Britain, so for him to ban it is very good news."

One of the most unusual royal family holiday traditions requires members of the family to get weighed before and after Christmas dinner. If they put on weight, it's an indication that they really enjoyed their meal.

The bizarre royal tradition dates back to the early 1900s, because Edward VII (King Charles III's great-great-grandfather) "wanted to ensure his guests ate well," royal expert Ingrid Seward told Grazia in 2018. Guests who enjoyed the meal were expected to gain three to five pounds.

Never show up for a royal meal underdressed. According to former royal chef Darren McGrady — who cooked for Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry — the royal family would come to meals in "dressy ball gowns."

"They would come in for afternoon tea by the log fire in outdoor clothes, and then they’d all change for dinner. They’d come down in dressy ball gowns, and sit at the table — like a ‘Downton Abbey’ dinner. All the fine china was brought out. At the end of the meal, a bagpipe player would walk around the table," McGrady told Marie Claire.

The screeching sound of a fork scraping an empty plate is like nails on a chalkboard for many diners, which is why the royal family frowns upon noisy cutlery.

"In Western formal dining, we don't want any form of noise — whether that's unpleasant sounds of mastication or the fork and knife scraping along a near-empty plate," etiquette expert William Hanson told Marie Claire.

"It is not a breach of protocol to make noise with the cutlery on the plate. If it happens once or twice by accident, no issue, but to continue to do so is especially unfortunate," Hanson added.

Members of the royal family do not actually hold their pinky fingers out when taking a sip of tea, but there is a correct way to hold a teacup.

Pinch the top of the handle with your thumb and index finger and use your middle finger to support the bottom while keeping the handle at 3 o’clock, Beaumont Etiquette founder Myka Meier told People magazine.

There is also a proper way to stir your tea — it is mess-free and silent.

"If we stir in a circular motion we can create a storm in a tea cup and see the tea coming over the sides which we should never allow," former royal butler Harrold told Insider.

"If the spoon touches the sides it makes a clinging sound and we don't want that at the afternoon tea table."

Drink from the same spot on your glass — or teacup — to avoid leaving a lipgloss or lipstick stain on the cup.

"Ruby red rings of lipstick around a cup or glass are not attractive for anyone," said etiquette expert William Hanson, per the Daily Express.

Napkin use is not taken lightly in the royal family. There is a proper way to place it on your lap and specific rules about where to put it at the end of a meal.

"For larger napkins, members of the Royal Family will place their napkins on their lap shortly after taking their seats, folding it in half with the crease facing away from them," William Hanson told Marie Claire.

"When they are finished eating and leaving the table, the napkin is placed in a neat heap on the left-hand side of the setting," Hanson added.

Guests dining with the monarch must follow their lead. When the late Queen Elizabeth stopped eating, her guests were expected to follow suit. It has not been reported if King Charles expects the same behavior from his guests.

"When dining with Her Majesty, no one should begin until she begins eating; similarly, when the Queen's cutlery goes into the finished position, everyone else should follow suit — regardless of whether there is food left on their own plates," Willam Hanson told the Daily Express in 2022.

"Starting your meal before or ending it dramatically after the Queen would be noticed by others. At your own peril commit such a faux pas."

Formula One star Lewis Hamilton learned this lesson the hard way when he was invited to lunch with the queen in 2015.

"I got invited to a lunch and was sitting next to the queen. I was excited and started to talk to her but she said, pointing to my left, ‘No, you speak that way first and I’ll speak this way and then I’ll come back to you,’" Hamilton said during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show.

Etiquette expert Maj. Gen. James Cowan told The Telegraph that the system encourages conversational flow between guests.

"The hostess will begin conversation with the guest seated on her right. The other women should follow suit. Halfway through dinner the hostess will direct her conversation to the guest on her left and the guests should do the same," Cowan told The Telegraph.

Princess Diana sometimes skipped out on the fancy royal meals to indulge young Willam and Harry's hankering for fast food.

"I remember the Princess (Diana) came into the kitchen one day and said, ‘Cancel lunch for the boys I’m taking them out, we’re going to McDonald's. And I said, ‘... your royal highness, I can do that, I can do burgers.’ And she said, ‘No, it's the toy they want.’ Yeah, the boys loved McDonald's, and going out to pizza, and having potato skins — sort of the American foods. They were royal princes but had children's palates," former royal chef Darren McGrady told Marie Claire.