Tomorrow is the King’s coronation and considering the last coronation was held in 1953, it’s set to be a day to remember. Regardless of how you feel about the King, you can’t deny the significance of the day. A big aspect of the coronation is food, as it’s a celebration after all.
What better way to learn about the new monarch than to explore what King Charles ate when he attended school? Independent Scottish creative communications agency Spey have unearthed menu cards from the royal’s time at Gordonstoun, along with a few images of meal times from around the time of his attendance.
So, where and what did the King eat whilst he was at school?
Meals at Gordonstoun during King Charles’ time were served in Gordonstoun House. The boys (Gordonstoun was single sex at that time) all ate together in their houses, seated at large tables with 30 places, beneath a portrait of Prince Philip, the most famous of the Gordonstoun alumni at that time.
They all took it in turns to wait on each other and the young Prince Charles would have ‘mucked in’ along with everyone else. A perk of that job was that the milk was kept in huge churns in the kitchens, providing an opportunity for the cream to be skimmed off and enjoyed should you be the lucky boy to get to it first.
Breakfast - served at 08:15am
- Kurt Hahn’s love of muesli remains a staple at school
- Porridge
- Fruit
- Lots of bananas
- Eggs from the hens on the campus
- Toast and marmalade
- Big trays of bacon laid out on the table
Lunch served at 13:20pm - At this meal, and only this one, the Masters would also sit with the students
Lunch was a substantial meal, hearty, yet simple British fare including:
- Braised meat with potatoes
- Scotch Broth
- Roast Chicken and vegetables
- Shepherds pie
- Large jugs of water and milk on the table
Tea served at 16:00pm in the individual houses
- This would be toast, butter, jam
- Tea and Coffee
- Sometimes a Victoria sponge or a lemon cake
Supper was served at 19:30pm
- Beef stew, with mashed potatoes and carrots (from the school’s vegetable garden)
- Vegetable soup
- Chicken casserole with boiled potatoes and ‘neeps’
- Occasionally game locals would provide duck, pheasant and other game from the estate
- ‘Dead Man’s Leg’ (spotted dick pudding!)
- Rice pudding
- Bread and butter pudding with ladles of custard
Sure, most of us did not go to a prestigious boarding school but it’s nice to see that even royalty enjoys a cheeky rice pudding like we do. Why not spend the weekend celebrating the King by eating a shepherd’s pie? If it’s good enough for King Charles, it’s good enough for us.