Wondering what the royals eat on Christmas Day? Here’s what Prince William and Kate might enjoy on December 25.

Festive food is one of the highlights of the Christmas season for many people, and while there are traditional Christmas foods like mince pies and chocolate oranges, every family has their own version of what should be included in their Christmas meal. The same is true for the Royal Family, who maintain a number of festive traditions each year, including spending the Christmas break at Sandringham House in Norfolk. King Charles and Queen Camilla will be hosting their closest family there again this year, with the Welsh family and many others expected to join them for the celebrations. That means there are plenty of royal mouths to feed, and some fans are likely to be curious about what they will be eating on 25 December.

Luckily, former royal chef Darren McGrady has previously revealed what was on the menu during his time at the Palace. Given the royals’ love of good tradition, this could still be what Prince William, Kate and the rest of the royals will be enjoying this Christmas Day.

Christmas Breakfast

Christmas Day breakfast is something that everyone approaches differently, and Darren claimed in his illuminating article in The Sunday Times in 2017 that the breakfast menu is not the same for royal men and women. During his time as royal chef, and perhaps even today, royal ladies “usually opt” for a “light breakfast of sliced fruit, half a grapefruit, toast and coffee delivered to their rooms”.

Instead, he suggested that the royal men go downstairs and have Christmas breakfast in the dining room at 8:30 a.m. Their plates would apparently be filled with a “big breakfast” of “eggs, bacon and mushrooms, smoked herring and roasted kidneys.”

This is said to ‘prepare’ them for church at 11am, and it’s possible that today’s royal women will enjoy a few more of these treats in the morning. Kate in particular is said to be fond of kidneys, as she revealed she ‘likes’ them during a visit to Oxford House Nursing Home in 2023.

The Royal Family traditionally walk to St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate on Christmas morning, with fans often lining the streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of them or presenting them with bouquets of flowers.

All three of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ children have accompanied them in recent years and we’ve always seen adorable interactions between Princes George, Charlotte and Louis and the other royal kids on Christmas Day.

Christmas lunch

For many, a pre-lunch snack or canapé might be part of their Christmas Day routine, but not for the royals! Darren claims that “canapés before a full Christmas lunch are quite unwelcome.” However, he did suggest that some of them will “snack on nuts” as they enjoy a drink of their choice – usually a glass of Veuve Clicquot champagne – in anticipation of the all-important Christmas roast.

Surprisingly, unless things have changed since Queen Elizabeth’s time, Prince William, Kate, King Charles and Queen Camilla may not actually be assigned seats for the 1pm lunch.

The former royal chef described the seating as “not assigned” even to the late Queen, and said that children “ate separately in the children’s room at 12.30pm”. As he did not specify how old these children were, it is likely that Princes George, Charlotte and Louis will still eat separately from the Prince and Princess of Wales this year, possibly with Zara Tindall’s children Mia, Lena and Lucas Tindall.

Christmas Day lunch is a full Christmas roast dinner with turkey as the centrepiece. This is “traditionally from the local butcher Scoles in Dersingham” and the Chef will carve the turkey at the table. This is apparently the “only day of the year” he is allowed into the dining room and the turkey is served with two types of potatoes – creamed mashed potatoes and roast potatoes – as well as chestnuts or sage and onion stuffing.

Cranberry sauce and bread sauce are also available, as are brussels sprouts, carrots and roast parsnips. Sadly Darren didn’t mention any pigs in blankets so it seems the Royal Christmas dinner missed out on those.

The dessert was none other than Christmas pudding, “watered down” with fine brandy and decorated with holly. The palace butler brought the pudding into the dining room and lit it in front of the Royal Family. Darren recalled that he and his fellow chefs usually started making Christmas pudding in September after returning to London from Balmoral Castle, where Queen Elizabeth enjoys her annual summer holiday.

“The giant stainless steel sinks in the kitchen are carefully scrubbed so they can be used as giant mixing bowls,” he said. “The bowl given on Christmas Day is often made the year before, giving it more time to mature.”

No coins or trinkets were added to the royal Christmas pudding, Darren noted that “no one wanted to be responsible for a royal choking incident”. Instead, it was served simply at 2pm with brandy butter and a splash of brandy sauce, followed by a “luxury cheese course”. It is said to include Stilton soaked in port wine, turning it purple and soft.

Christmas Tea Time

After a hearty Christmas lunch, not everyone wants to do much else for hours, but at around 4pm, the royals seem to gather for a “festive tea.” Tea time is an important time of day for the Royal Family, and the Queen’s son, food critic and writer Tom Parker Bowles, spoke about it earlier this year. He told People , “It’s of the utmost importance. It’s not just a cup of tea – it’s a whole meal. There’s sandwiches, two different cakes, scones, biscuits, prawns and eggs.”

Of course, it’s a traditional teatime treat, but Darren confirmed that the royal Christmas tea menu includes Christmas cake, a chocolate log, mince pies with brandy butter, scones and sandwiches. He added that the Royal Family are “remarkably disciplined with food” and “mostly just snack”.

Christmas dinner

If Christmas Day dinner is anything like it was when Darren was a royal chef, Prince William, Kate, King Charles and Queen Camilla will enjoy a very unusual and traditional meal at around 8.15pm. The meal is served in the dining room and when Darren was working for the royals, the Christmas Day dinner buffet apparently included stuffed pig’s head on a platter, boiled and roasted beef tongue and ham, salmon and game.

There are also sliced tomatoes, green leaves and potatoes tossed with hollandaise sauce as a side dish. If they fancy something sweet afterwards, there are chocolates from Charbonnel et Walker and Bendick’s Bitter Mints which are said to be a favourite of Queen Elizabeth.