Royal Chef Says These Were William And Harry's Favorite Childhood Treats
We don't hear much about Carolyn Robb, the Cordon-Bleu diploma-ed chef who became the youngest — and first female — chef for Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and their sons, Princes William and Harry. But she has plenty of stories to tell, having worked in various royal households for 13 years, per YouTube.
It's Robb who introduced William and Harry to the joys of chocolate biscuit cake, which was eventually served at William and Kate's wedding in 2012. She revealed to The Courier in 2018, "My mother used to make this when I was a child, and it was a great favorite of mine."
That same recipe would go on to inspire a love of the same dessert in the young princes. "When Prince William and Prince Harry were very young, I made it for them using the same recipe. It was a firm favorite in the royal nursery," Robb told the outlet.
William and Harry loved meringue
Chocolate biscuit cake wasn't the only sweet treat Carolyn Robb served the young royals. "My most memorable occasion was definitely the first time that I made afternoon tea for Prince William and Prince Harry when they were 6 and 3 years old, respectively. Mouse cupcakes, mini gingerbread men and tiny sandwiches were among the tiny treats that I made for them," she told The Austin Chronicle in 2018.
And in an April interview with CBS Morning's "The Dish," Robb revealed that the princes were keen on another dessert that's featured in her cookbook, "Tea at the Palace." Robb says both boys "loved a piping bag full of meringue ... some of it ended up in the tray and in the oven."
Not all of Robb's memories at the palace were happy ones, though. She told CBS News that she was working at the palace in 1997 when the boys were told they'd lost their mother. "There was very little that anybody certainly in my position could really do. But to know that the food was the best it could possibly be. I do think it has a role to play, and the fact that the kitchen was always a warm and happy and welcoming place," she said.
Few, if any of us, have access to a live-in personal chef like Robb. But as far as the role of food in their lives are concerned, the royals appear to be very much like you and me.