By Anders Anglesey
King Charles may have an extraordinarily busy schedule, but he has kept one thing constant over the years - his trusty breakfast box that he takes to all engagements.
The monarch would willingly skip lunch, having been heartily fuelled for the day thanks to a breakfast of seeds and fruit, according to his former press secretary. He is also known to enjoy the finer things - from having his shoelaces ironed to extra requests about how he likes his bath water.
And this apparent fussiness extends to his most important meal of the day; breakfast. According to ex-press secretary Julian Payne, he did not see Charles eat a single boiled egg and would instead bring a "breakfast box" wherever he went.
"The King doesn't eat lunch; so, an early lesson I learnt when out on the road with him was to have a big breakfast or bring a few snack bars with you to keep you going," Payne previously said. "The working day is pretty relentless. Beginning with the radio news headlines and a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and seeds with tea."
According to MyLondon, King Charles always takes his breakfast box - no matter where he goes in the world. As an organic food lover who follows a plant-based diet, the King reportedly starts his day with a healthy combination of vitamins and fibre.
"Prince Charles has a healthier option. He'd have homemade bread, a bowl of fresh fruit, fresh fruit juices," former staff member chef Graham Newbould previously said. "Wherever the Prince goes in the world, the breakfast box goes with him. He has six different types of honey, some special mueslis, his dried fruit and anything that's a bit special that he is a bit fussy about."
Another ex-royal chef, Darren Mcgrady, previously claimed Charles enjoys inspecting whether the royal pantry is well stocked with "his own produce." "The instruction was to put two plums and a little juice into the bowl and send it into him for breakfast," he said.
"I'd send in two plums and he would take one so it would come back out after breakfast and I'd put the other plum back into the jar and save it. One morning I thought, 'ok, he only eats one for breakfast,' so I only put one plum into the bowl and sent it out into the dining room.
"The attending [waiter] came through and said, 'can His Royal Highness have two please?' So I had to keep sending two in every morning."
Payne also revealed Charles took breaks from his "relentless schedule" at about 1pm, but not to eat - rather to take a walk. The King reportedly dislikes being inside for lengthy periods of time and always enjoys having the window open, Payne added.
His first real break is at about 5pm when he will eat sandwiches and a piece of fruit cake with the Queen consort. Dinner is served at 8:30pm and then at 10pm the King returns to his desk to continue tackling his mountain of paperwork and stays there until past midnight.
