Graham Newbould, royal chef in the 1980s who made the Queen ‘penny’ sandwiches and boiled rabbit for the corgis – obituary

Graham Newbould, who has died suddenly aged 66, was a gifted chef who spent two years (1980-82) working for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and aboard the Royal Yacht and another four and a half as personal chef to the then Prince and Princess of Wales.

Asked by a journalist in 1987 what it was like working for the Royal family, he replied: “I’ve signed the Official Secrets Act, and anything to do with the Royal family is taboo.’’ But when asked if he had a hand in helping the Princess of Wales keep her slim figure, he joked: “I’m the one who keeps her on the front pages.’’

He resigned in 1987 to become the chef at the upmarket Inverlochy Castle hotel, near Fort William in Scotland, where he gained a Michelin star, and in 2002 presented Secrets of the Royal Kitchen, a light-hearted documentary made for Channel 5 in 2002.

Newbould’s “secrets” were not as eye-popping as those divulged by the likes of the former royal butler Paul Burrell, but for those with an interest in such matters they were mildly entertaining nonetheless.

The royals, he revealed, “like simple but elegant food, not too spicy, not too big or too small portions.” The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh would begin the day at 8.00am with a traditional cooked breakfast. Lunch was at 1:15pm, high tea at 5pm and dinner at 8:15pm.

“Everything had to be well-presented and elegant. But they weren’t too mad about decoration, so you might just serve flaked salmon on a plate with mayonnaise,” Newbould recalled. Garlic was banned. The Queen particularly enjoyed “minute” Haddock St Germain, her own version of fish and chips, consisting of small pieces of pan-fried haddock in breadcrumbs, with chips and Béarnaise sauce.

If the Queen had one quirk it was her fondness for “penny” sandwiches at high tea – the corners trimmed, according to Newbould, “because tradition has it that anyone presenting … pointed-edged food is trying to overthrow the throne of England”.

Newbould’s duties also extended to cooking for the royal pets, but while the corgis were treated to chopped-up boiled lamb’s liver or rabbit with rice and cabbage, the gundogs had to make do with tripe.

Christmas at Sandringham offered Newbould a rare chance to spread his culinary wings. The family were not keen on mince pies or Christmas pudding, “so I could be quite bold with, say, a piña colada mousse with a raspberry coulis”.

In 1981 he was one of the cooks who helped to prepare the wedding breakfast (actually a lunch) for the Prince and Princess of Wales, consisting of quenelles of brill with lobster sauce, lamb-mousse stuffed chicken breast, and strawberries and cream. When the couple returned from their honeymoon, they asked Newbould if he would become one of their two personal chefs.

This meant no more cooked breakfasts: “The Prince would have a glass of freshly squeezed orange or apple juice and a small bowl of fresh fruit salad. Then he would have muesli with six different types of dried fruit, apricots, peaches, figs, plums, apples and pears, served with milk from the Royal Dairy at Windsor. He would then have granary toast with six different types of honey. He would cut his toast up and try a little bit of honey on each.”

The Princess drank instant coffee and would also have cereal, usually muesli or bran flakes, and sprinkle wheat germ on top. She would then have toast with marmalade and a fruit yoghurt.

The royal couple, Newbould recalled, usually had a light lunch and did not usually have high tea unless they were at Highgrove and the Prince had been hunting or playing polo. In that case he would have a soft boiled egg with Vegemite (the Australian version of Marmite) soldiers.

Newbould revealed that whenever the Prince went travelling, he took a “breakfast box” with him, containing his honey collection, various special mueslis, his dried fruit “and anything that’s a bit special that he is a bit fussy about”.

The only tensions Newbould detected in the royal marriage related to jacket potatoes. On the Princess’s instructions he would make her sons baked potatoes with lightly poached eggs on top, drizzled with cheese sauce and sprinkled with parmesan: “She was a great fan of that type of food. Less so the Prince.”

A convivial man who nevertheless approached his work with total seriousness, Newbould described his life in the royal household as excellent fun, though he recalled once having to discipline a young Prince William for pelting him with golf balls.

On another occasion, while on his own preparing canapés for a Kensington Palace reception, Newbould started doing an impersonation of Prince Charles, as he was then, enthusing about his kitchen garden at Highgrove: “I didn’t realise that the Princess was standing behind me laughing. She thought it was very funny.”

Graham left the royal employ in 1987. “I was young and ambitious, and keen to get my own Michelin star,” he recalled later.

Graham Newbould was born on August 1 1956 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, the son of Bryan and Marion Newbould. After school locally he attended catering college before training under Michel Bourdin at the Connaught in London, where he rose to be chef poissonnier before going on to work for the Royal Family.

After gaining his star at Inverlochy Castle, he moved to Barbados to take a post as chef at the Treasure Beach hotel; from there he moved to Grenada to be head chef at the Calabash. Returning to England, he set up his own restaurant at The George in Wormald Green, on the road from Ripon to Harrogate in Yorkshire, its walls covered with memorabilia from his time in royal service. His last job was as chef to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey.

Graham Newbould was an honorary member of the Académie Culinaire de France, and an officer of the Club des Chef des Chefs, an exclusive gastronomic association limited to chefs serving emperors, kings, queens, princes, princesses and presidents.

Newbould was twice married. His first marriage, to Joy, ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife Heather along with their son and a son and daughter from the first marriage.

Graham Newbould, born August 1 1956, died March 2 2023