A Taste of Royal Weddings Past

I admit that I have gotten a little swept up in the William and Kate frenzy. I have visited the official website for the Royal Wedding, wondered aloud if Sir Elton will be attending, and am in the throes of preparing my own celebration at home. Nothing elaborate mind you. I have a feeling it will entail watching from my bed with Alfie, some coffee, and doughnuts. Glamorous, I know. It makes me think of Charles and Diana's wedding back in 1981. For that wedding, my sister and I were roused at the crack of dawn so that we could watch the momentous occasion, and thirty years later I vividly remember it. I've watched every Royal Wedding since then, so there is no way that I'm missing this one.

Of course, there is a lot of speculation as to who will design Kate's dress, but what I'm also curious about is what food will be served at the reception at Buckingham Palace. Do you want to know what was served at Charles and Diana's reception? Well, I can tell you thanks to a really interesting book, A Taste Of The Past by John Lane.




For William's parents' breakfast reception at Buckingham Palace, the following was served: quenelles with fish sauce for the first course; chicken breast with buttered broad beans, creamed sweetcorn, and new potatoes for the main course; salad; strawberries and clotted cream for dessert.




After the reception, Charles and Diana spent the first three days of their honeymoon at the Mountbatten family home, the Broadlands estate in Hampshire. Then they flew to Gibraltar on the Royal Flight. The onboard breakfast served to the newlyweds included lobster, prawns, roast chicken and beef, salad, and a melon fruit cup. You can see the complete menu on the menu card, above.





And what has to be the most rollicking meal served was that on the Concorde during its London to New York flight on the morning of the wedding. Travelers had a bevy of wines, spirits, Bloody Marys, Whisky Sours, Gin Fizzes, Drambuie, and Macanudo cigars at their disposal. A celebratory Buck's Fizz was served before a breakfast of tournedos of beef wrapped in bacon and grilled with pork sausages and kidney, Coulibiac à la Russe, grilled tomato and mushrooms, cheese, rolls, and coffee. I feel a little drunk and sick just listing all of that. God only knows in what kind of shape the passengers arrived in New York.

All images except for that of William and Kate from A Taste Of The Past by John Lane.