The royal pleasure of afternoon tea

The late Queen Elizabeth II was a great fan of tea time, enjoying the ritual every day. Her son, King Charles II, and the younger Windsors also appreciate the treat, with each having their own individual tastes in what to eat and drink.

The Queen's favourite tea blends included Assam and Earl Grey. As for the food that accompanied them, former royal chef Darren Grady has revealed that Her Majesty's three favourite sandwiches were cucumber, egg and smoked salmon – all in elegantly dainty sizes, with the crusts cut off, of course. For a sweet touch, she loved ginger and chocolate cakes.

King Charles and his Queen Consort, Camilla, enjoy smoked salmon, potted shrimp or roast venison sandwiches, along with the traditional scones topped with jam and clotted cream or strawberry tartlets.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have inherited one of their best recipes from William's grandmother. When he was a schoolboy at Eton, the Queen used to invite him to tea at nearby Windsor Castle, where she served him a refrigerated cake made with chocolate and biscuits. William loved it so much that he and Kate included it in their wedding feast!

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In their California mansion, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are likely to enjoy a modern version of the classic British meal. Meghan favours herbal infusions such as mint. Since she loves to cook, her table will include homemade cakes like her famous banana bread. Back in 2018, she even cooked this while on a tour of Australia with Prince Harry, so that the couple could take it to a picnic with a farming family in Dubbo, near Sydney.

Her hostess, Benita Woodley, commented: "She said if you go to someone's house you always bring something, so she did. She said she was worried about the bananas, that she'd put too many in it. But the Duke said there's never too many bananas!"