Even at 99, Prince Philip 'lives to eat' and carries his frying pan on tours to whip up a breakfast for Queen
Prince Philip turned 99 on June 10. His impressive fitness at his age might have less to do with his daily diet and more to do with his knack for cooking.
The Duke of Edinburgh is well-known among the staff of Buckingham Palace for being a foodie — so much so that he loves to take over the kitchen and lend a hand for the dinner preparations. Although his wife rarely gets any time off her stately duties to help out with the domestic chore, Prince Philip has willingly overseen the task of making sure that dinner was on the table.
According to the book 'My Husband and I: The Inside Story Of 70 Years Of Royal Marriage', by Ingrid Seward, Philip has reviewed food menus and decided on their meals for the day while his wife poured over official red boxes and held audiences with prime ministers in the privacy of her chambers, from early on in their marriage. It is said that when he used to go on royal duties abroad, he would always return home with a new dish for royal chefs to try. In case the meal did not taste as good as he remembered it to be, he would personally go down to the kitchen and brief the chefs on how it was to be prepared in the future.
He is also known to whip up a dish or two for himself and his wife from time to time using his glass-topped electric frying pan which he insisted on accompanying him everywhere whenever he traveled.
"Breakfast and supper snacks are his specialties. Wherever he goes, he insists on his electric glass-lidded frying pan being packed so that he can do the cooking. For breakfast, bacon, eggs, and sausages are his usual raw materials, though he often cooks kidneys and omelets," former royal footman Charles Oliver wrote in his book, 'Dinner at Buckingham Palace.' "The Prince is also adept at producing quick, light supper snacks, which he and the Queen often enjoy after they have dismissed the servants for the night. Dishes include scrambled eggs and smoked haddock, mushrooms sautéed in butter with bacon, Scotch woodcock (scrambled eggs with anchovies on toast) with mushrooms, and omelet with bacon."
He also added that while Duke mostly preferred "good, simple cooking" at home, he was not afraid of experimenting. His most daring dish, according to him was a "snipe, which, after shooting it at Sandringham, he plucked, cleaned and prepared himself". Former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed that Philip loves spicy foods and counts salmon coulibiac among his favorite dishes. He also recounted how the Queen and her husband differed when it comes to food habits. "Prince Philip has a much broader palate than Her Majesty when it comes to food. The Queen eats to live whereas Prince Philip lives to eat," he said.
McGrady also recalled a time when he was in the kitchen getting ready to prepare a lamb dish for dinner at Sandringham when the duke entered and decided to take matters into his own hands. “He actually cooked on the grill that night - he cooked for me! There was I, his chef, I mean, what was I supposed to do, go out and do royal engagements while he was doing my job in the kitchen?” the chef joked.