By George! Dining with Royalty in Georgian Britain

The bad one, the sad one, the fat one and the mad one: the Georgian Kings have been satirised as individuals, and lumped together as a whole. During their reigns modern Britain was born, from the first stockmarket crash, to birth of the railways, to the first curry house. Britons gained the reputation as tea-swilling, beef-obsessed thugs – but their leaders were super-rich German immigrants who brought with them a taste for sausage, potatoes and chocolate. From George I’s chocolate cook, to George III’s barley soup for invalids, and from fried fish dinners to turtle soup by the tureen, this talk looks not just at what the royal family ate, and how they ate it. Through four Georges and one William, the highs – and lows – of royal dining in the era that made Britain will be uncovered.

Tasty titbits from the royal table and a glass of wine will be included.

Food historian Dr Annie Gray is a writer, broadcaster and consultant. She is the resident food historian in BBC Radio 4’s the Kitchen Cabinet, and presented and consulted on BBC2’s acclaimed series Victorian Bakers. She works with organisations including the National Trust, Historic Royal Palaces and English Heritage to bring to life the spaces associated with eating and cooking, and to showcase the highs of British cookery. Her first book, The Greedy Queen: eating with Victoria, is due out in spring 2017.

< Back to events calendar