Prince George and Princess Charlotte's School Lunches Are "Curated by World-Class Chefs"
That’s what £23,430 annual tuition gets you, I suppose!
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice boxes, this is not. At Thomas’s Battersea Prep School—the primary school where Prince George and Princess Charlotte currently attend—their £23,430 tuition, in addition to a top-notch education, also affords them meals made daily by world-class chefs, according to The Daily Express. Think chickpea curry and coconut cake, a far cry from the norm in Great Britain (or the U.S., for that matter).
“When most Britons think of their school lunches, they might be reminded of squashed sandwiches, an apple, and a juice box,” the outlet reports. “However, this is a stark contrast to the indulgent menus served at Thomas’s Battersea.”
The Cambridge kids and their schoolmates are “treated to food curated by world-class chefs and the finest seasonal ingredients,” the Express says. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge won’t have to worry about preparing packed lunches for their children during their time at school.”
George enrolled in Thomas’s Battersea in 2017, and Charlotte followed him there in 2019 (see above photo for her adorable first day of school dropoff). The food served at the school is seasonal, nutritionally balanced, and runs on “a three-week menu cycle that is repeated once throughout the school term,” the Express reports.
And the dishes are fancy—lamb ragout with wholewheat pasta makes the cut, as does Mediterranean couscous with baked smoked mackerel. Turkey and ham pie is served with steamed broccoli and cauliflower and oven-baked herby rice, and fish options include roasted salmon on a bed of puy lentils. Vegetarian? Great! Dishes like chickpea, spinach, and sweet potato curry fit within a vegetarian’s diet.
“Many Britons would have been used to a sweet sponge cake drowned in watery custard in their primary school lunches,” the Express says. “But Prince George and [Princess] Charlotte, on the other hand, can tuck into luxury steamed jam and coconut sponge with vanilla bean custard. Fresh fruit platters and yogurts or dishes such as Portuguese egg tart, tropical fruit smoothie, or oven-baked oatmeal and raisin cookie served with a banana milkshake are alternative sweet options on offer.”
In addition to lunches like that (*insert mind blown emoji here*), students at Thomas’s Battersea also get a mid-morning snack that may include organic milk or water with fresh fruit or a pain aux raisin. There’s also a freshly made soup of the day and bread available at every lunch.
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All this said, Marie Claire reported recently that the Cambridges are on the hunt for a new school closer to Windsor for their children to attend. Schools like Lambrook in Berkshire have made the short list—and one can only hope the potential schools can contend with Thomas’s Battersea in the food department.
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.