Former Royal Patisserie Chef Reveals 3 ‘Strict’ Protocols Required to Work at Windsor Castle
According to a pastry chef who once worked for the royal family at Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle, the protocols for palace staff are “strict” but not unreasonable by many standards. That former employee shared how they got the job, plus three rules they had to follow while making royal desserts.
Former royal patisserie chef Fiona Burton reveals what it was like to work in the kitchen at Windsor Castle
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, Fiona Burton opened up about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity she received to work at Windsor Castle. She was 20 and working in France when she got the call.
Burton “obviously said yes,” but she added, “It didn’t really hit home for a while because it took a couple of months for them to get back in touch with me.”
According to Burton, she didn’t initially know that she would be working for Queen Elizabeth II and other royal family members. “They explained the whole thing, and it wasn’t until then that I realized the actual interview was to work for the queen, the queen’s mother, and the royals.”
Once Burton joined the team, she was the youngest and, therefore, the first one in. “I would be up doing breakfast items, which included scones, croissants, and tarts,” she explained. “I would then do all the prep for lunch. We made everything for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and the evening dessert.”
Former Windsor pastry chef reveals ‘strict’ protocols followed by royal staff
Though Burton confessed there were some things she couldn’t say, she did share three of the “strict” protocols she followed during her employment at the possibly haunted castle. Those included security checks, not having cell phones or cameras at work, and not mixing with the members of other staff teams.
Burton explained, “Every time we left, we had to go through security checks.”
She added, “At the time, mobile phones were only just coming out, so we weren’t allowed phones or cameras in the castle.”
Furthermore, she said, “It was also quite strict between the teams, so you had catering, maids, and butlers. We weren’t allowed to meet up, so everything was pretty strict. It was just to keep the teams separate.”
Former Windsor Castle pastry chef reveals ‘strict’ protocols around acknowledging royals
Burton also spoke a little about the training required for her to work in the pastry kitchen at historic Windsor Castle, which a devastating fire severely damaged in 1992.
“The main things were that when [the royal family] did come down to the kitchen, we weren’t to acknowledge them. We weren’t allowed to stop and stare at them, [and] we had to carry on with our work,” Burton explained. “It’s almost like not acknowledging them until they acknowledge us.”
She added, “I had to learn how to curtsy properly in case I ever came across them. If they ever came down, we were given the heads up. There were definite protocols over how we conducted ourselves.”
