That is what occurs when royalty meets gluttony
Britain has skilled many kings and queens all through its historical past. A few of them have been honorable, whereas others have been egocentric people who solely cared about themselves. All of them loved a privileged life-style, and for some British monarchs, meals was an irresistible temptation. They ate their manner via an abundance of luxurious dishes and have become dangerously fats by the tip of their reigns.
King Henry VIII is a well-known monarch. The six-wife saga is a infamous a part of our previous, and historians aren’t significantly optimistic about him.
Leaving apart his fondness for beheadings, Henry additionally loved consuming a number of meals. Throughout the early phases of his reign, he stayed wholesome by taking part in sports activities, resembling tennis and wrestling. However as Henry grew older, his style for gluttony grew to become an issue.
Henry spent a lot of his time at Hampton Courtroom. Right here, the kitchen consisted of fifty-five rooms with 200 employees members. Meat was a core a part of Henry’s eating regimen. The cooks incessantly served up dishes of oxen, sheep, deer, larks, calves, pigs, boars, fowls, swans, and peacocks for the king and his courtroom. Henry additionally loved including liberal quantities of butter, ginger, marmalade, and cream to sure dishes.
Consolation consuming grew to become a difficulty after the demise of Henry’s third spouse in 1537. The ulcers on Henry’s legs additionally made it troublesome for him to train. Because the years glided by, he grew to become morbidly overweight, and throughout the ultimate years of his life, he needed to be carried round in a sedan chair.
Historians have estimated that Henry weighed round thirty stone by the tip of his reign, and he was so fats that his coffin burst open in the midst of his funeral!
King George IV is one other monarch with a poor popularity. Formally, his reign started in 1820, however George developed a foul popularity lengthy earlier than this.
Like Henry earlier than him, George had loads of meat in his eating regimen. He cherished to gorge on pigeons, beef pies, steaks, chickens, and mutton. However he additionally had an urge for food for sugar, which was simply accessible attributable to overseas commerce and Britain’s increasing empire.
At Brighton Pavillion (George’s seaside retreat), there have been a number of rooms devoted to the preparation of desserts. Pasties, sorbets, ice lotions, and sweetbreads have been accompanied by peaches, grapes, pineapples, and candy cherry liqueur.
The latter was simply one in every of many alcoholic drinks George favored to eat. He commonly drank champagne, gin, whisky, ale, and brandy together with his massive meals. He additionally developed a smoking behavior which did nothing to enhance his well being.
George’s obsession with pleasure took its toll in later life. He died in 1830 after rupturing a blood vessel in his abdomen. The autopsy examination additionally discovered massive deposits of fats round George’s coronary heart.
Queen Victoria grew to become Britain’s new monarch on the tender age of eighteen. She was a little bit of a celebration woman throughout the early years of her reign and cherished balls, dinners, concert events, consuming meals, consuming alcohol, staying up late, and getting up when she wished to.
However her consumption of meals didn’t develop into an issue till the demise of Prince Albert in 1861. Having misplaced her husband, Victoria fell right into a deep despair and threw herself into an unhealthy consuming behavior.
The kitchen employees at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Fort delivered whopping meals for Victoria and her friends. Dinner was a grand affair with a number of programs, which regularly included hen, beef, haggis, venison, lamb, foul, and numerous soups.
Victoria additionally cherished puddings, resembling chocolate biscuits, chocolate desserts, sponge desserts, jam trifles, cranberry tarts, pancakes, waffles, and jellies. What’s extra, Victoria favored to gobble her meals shortly and will get via 9 programs in simply half an hour.
The queen had grown right into a sizeable girl by the tip of her reign. However regardless of her unhealthy obsession with meals, Victoria was eighty-one when she died, which was a powerful age on the time.
