This food rule might be the Royal Family's weirdest — and that's saying something

Truly bizarre

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Eating During A Visit To Blachford Lake Near Yellowknife.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you're an avid reader of royal news, you probably already know that members of the Royal Family have to follow some pretty bananas food rules — both in private and in public.

While many of their mealtime rules have to do with displaying good manners, avoiding dark stains, and keeping their fresh breath for meeting members of the public or officials, some of their rules are a lot less based in logical reasoning. They are, however, based in... geometry?

"The royals never have square sandwiches because tradition has it that anyone presenting them with pointed-edged food is trying to overthrow the throne of England," former royal chef Graham Newbould revealed in the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of the Royal Kitchen (via OK!).

So, uh, yeah, apparently the King and other senior members of the Royal Family try their utmost not to eat foods with edges or angles?

Otherwise, when in public, royals are apparently encouraged to refuse seafood as it's "too risky," presumably because of the risk of food poisoning — nobody wants a princess to fall ill while she's learning about an important project. The same goes for rare meats and tap water from foreign countries, apparently.

Royal children also have to eat separately from their parents "until they [are] old enough to conduct themselves properly at the dining table," according to former royal chef Darren McGrady.

In fact, much of our knowledge of what goes on at a royal dining table and in the kitchen comes from Darren, who often speaks to the press about what he learned while employed by a royal household.

For instance, Darren once told Marie Claire US about the very normal childhood habit Princes William and Harry had.

"I remember the Princess came into the kitchen one day and said, 'Cancel lunch for the boys, I'm taking them out, we're going to McDonald's,'" he said.

"And I said, 'Oh my God Your Royal Highness, I can do that, I can do burgers.' And she said, 'No, it's the toy they want.'

"Yeah, the boys loved McDonald's, and going out to pizza, and having potato skins—sort of the American foods. They were royal princes but had children's palates."

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.