A Royal Lunch with Corgi Chaos
Celebrity chef James Martin has shared a delightful and intimate story from a lunch at Buckingham Palace with the late Queen Elizabeth II, revealing a moment where Prince Philip playfully told her off. The incident, which highlights the couple's down-to-earth dynamic, involved the Queen's beloved corgis and a silver box of digestive biscuits.
The Scene at Buckingham Palace
James Martin, 53, recounted the event on the Good Housekeeping UK podcast, describing how he was one of six guests invited for lunch. He recalled arriving in a suit and initially thinking he was in the wrong room. "Next minute the door opened, in comes the corgis, Prince Philip walked in and she stood there and said, 'Shall we have lunch?'" Martin said. He found himself sitting directly opposite the Queen for a three-hour meal.
The charming chaos began when the Queen started feeding digestive biscuits from a silver box to her dogs. Prince Philip reprimanded the monarch in front of their guests as the corgis, experiencing a sugar rush, began "going mental all over the place." Martin fondly compared the Queen's commanding yet warm presence to that of his own grandmother.
A Lasting Impression and a Personal Regret
This was not the first time Martin has spoken about meeting the Queen. In a 2020 interview with Hello! magazine, he described the lunch for eight people as "magical." He shared that they conversed about dogs and life, but admitted his one regret was that his grandmother, a huge fan of the Queen, was not alive to witness the event.
Reflecting further on his family's influence during the Road To Success podcast, Martin elaborated on the parallel he draws between his grandmother and the Queen. He explained that both women commanded immense respect simply by entering a room, a quality he valued deeply from his upbringing.
