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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    King Charles Refused to "Change" One Breakfast Habit, as Royal Chef Reveals the Monarch's Important "Instruction"

    "I'd put the other back into the jar and save it."

    Amy Mackelden's avatar
    By Amy Mackelden
    Published 25 January 2026 In News

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    King Charles wears a gray suit and a lilac shirt and eats some food from a spoon
    (Image credit: Getty Images/Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage)
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    As the monarch, King Charles is able to request pretty much any food item he desires. But according to a former royal chef, The King previously had several important "instructions," and he didn't like deviating from one breakfast habit in particular.

    During an appearance in Channel 5's Secrets of the Royal Kitchen documentary, former Royal Family chef Darren McGrady revealed that Charles especially enjoyed eating fruit from his own garden at Highgrove House. "The instruction was to put two plums and a little juice into the bowl, and send it in to him for breakfast," McGrady said (via Hello! magazine).

    However, the royal chef soon realized that Charles often didn't eat both plums. "I'd send in two plums and he would take one so it would come back out after breakfast, and I'd put the other plum back into the jar and save it," McGrady explained.

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    According to the outlet, McGrady decided to make a "small change" to King Charles's breakfast habit. "One morning I thought, 'Okay he only eats one for breakfast, so I only put one plum into the bowl and sent it out into the dining room."

    King Charles sniffing herbs in the garden at Highgrove with his chef standing nearby

    King Charles in the garden at Highgrove.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Unfortunately, McGrady's idea reportedly didn't go down very well with The King. "The attending [staff member] came through and said, 'Can His Royal Highness have two please?' So I had to keep sending two in every morning," the former royal chef said.

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    King Charles poses as his private property, Highgrove House

    King Charles at Highgrove House.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Cooking and the Crown: Royal Stories From Queen Victoria to King Charles Iii

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    Meanwhile, Queen Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles, detailed King Charles's updated breakfast habits in the 2024 book Cooking and the Crown. Parker Bowles said Charles's morning meal of dried fruit and honey was "a thoroughly modern, and healthy, start to the day."

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    Weekend Editor

    Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.

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