Why Queen Elizabeth Refuses to Eat a Banana ‘Like a Monkey’

Queen Elizabeth does everything with a royal flair. Even the way she eats fruit, including the very particular way she eats a banana, is of interest to her royal followers. Her former chef breaks down the ways Queen Elizabeth eats a variety of fruits — and you can bet you’ll never see the queen chomping a banana the way most folks do.

Queen Elizabeth’s desserts aren’t typical

Queen Elizabeth’s former chef, Darren McGrady, released a video that gives the scoop on the queen’s dessert options. First, he explained that, following dinner, there’s a pudding course, which is the more sweet options that Americans are familiar with as desserts, such as ice cream, apple pie, tarts, and mousses.

The queen, according to McGrady, would often pass on the pudding course and have dessert fruit following her entrée. McGrady showed how the kitchen staff would prepare foods like bananas, apples, grapes, and pineapple with great care and the most elegant presentation.

Queen Elizabeth’s dessert fruits were served beautifully

The presentation of the fruits was very specific, as they were elegantly served in opulent bowls and on platters that were literally fit for a queen.

Extra care went into picking out the fruits, with attention given to assure there were no bruises or blemishes and everything was perfectly ripe. Additionally, some items, like apples, would be set on a platter and decorated with leaves that were collected at Windsor Castle.

“The leaves that we used to decorate the dishes all came from Windsor Castle and they had to be polished by hand, every one, and then cut the perfect size so that they looked and complemented all the fruit on the table,” the queen’s former chef explained.

McGrady noted, “The fruit came from the local purveyors, but things like apples when they were in season, would come from Sandringham and the peaches would come from Windsor Castle. We always served to the queen whatever was in season. It’s what she liked best.”

Queen Elizabeth doesn’t eat bananas like a monkey

Queen Elizabeth has a fussy way of eating fruit, but the way she eats a banana is particularly royal. Most people peel a banana and eat it, as McGrady said, “like a monkey.” That’s not quite the method the queen uses, however, as she eats a banana with a knife and fork.

McGrady showed how the staff would make sure the bananas were similar in size and blemish-free and remove the stalks of the fruit before putting them on a dish.

“It was impolite to eat a banana like a monkey at Buckingham Palace. You’re supposed to eat it with a fruit knife and fork,” he explained. McGrady then demonstrated the way the queen eats a banana, trimming off the edges, then making a slice down the center in order to remove the peel, then placing the trimmed end pieces neatly into the peel. Once peeled, she could proceed with cutting slices of the fruit to eat.

The queen’s former chef also shared an inside look at how other fruits were eaten.

Apples were polished and stems removed before presenting them on a plate with decorative leaves. The queen and her guests would cut apples into bite-sized pieces with a knife and fork. Similarly, grapes were “cut into little bunches so you could just help yourself to one or two,” McGrady explained.

A pineapple could prove to be tricky, but the chef demonstrated the way he would trim the fruit and cut out the cylinder of fruit, remove the hard core center with a ring cutter, and slice the fruit into rings.

“After that, you place it back into the pineapple and put the lid on — this will surprise the guests when they open it up,” he said.