The Queen’s former chef reveals his time at the palace begun with preparing meals for the corgis

The Queen’s former chef described Buckingham Palace kitchen as a restaurant for the royal corgis and said he used to cook them fresh food daily. 

Darren McGrady, 58, who spent 15 years cooking for the royals, took to YouTube to share how he used to cook meats like rabbit and liver mixed with cabbage and rice for Her Majesty’s corgis, explaining there was a ‘menu’ of dishes to choose from. 

At the time Darren worked at the palace the Queen had 12 corgis, which slept in wicker baskets in the ‘corgi room’ and were looked after by two footmen who collected the dishes from the kitchen.   

Darren prepared a selection of beef, chicken, liver, rabbit, cabbage and rice (pictured), explaining that each meat had to be finely cut 

He said: ‘I didn’t expect to be cooking for the Queen’s dogs, when I started working at Buckingham Palace. The corgi’s had their own menu. I thought I was going to be cooking for kings, queens and presidents.

‘I did eventually, but one of the first jobs I had was cooking for the corgis. Making fresh food everyday, their own menu.’

Darren explained the most important thing was to ensure there were no bones left in the meat in case the corgis choked so he would brunoise the meat into tiny chunks. 

Once the food was prepared, the footmen would take the food to the corgis and the Queen would often feed her dogs herself.  

Darren (pictured) shared that the Queen has had over 30 corgis and explained that they’re looked after by two footmen 

Darren told how the corgis used to travel with the Queen and her staff between the palaces and explained how at the ‘smaller’ houses, like Sandringham, the corgis would run into the kitchen. 

He said: ‘I remember being in Sandringham and putting a beef wellington into the oven and didn’t see one of these corgis sniffing around for food. I stepped back and almost tripped over as I was putting the beef wellington into the oven. 

‘In the royal kitchens it was like being a normal family, dogs running in and out of the kitchens all the time.’ 

Darren (pictured) concluded that corgi’s favourite food is beef, after getting his own dog to chose between the dishes

The chef explained the royals have had corgis since 1933, when the Queen’s dad brought a corgi home called Dookie. 

‘The Queen was given a corgi for her 18th birthday and called it Suzanne and she’s had over 30 corgis since then,’ he added.

Darren explained the monarch no longer has corgis, but instead has a cross between corgis and dachshund. 

The post was met with excited comments from his delighted fans.  

Responses praised Darren for sharing his experience and gushed that the lighthearted video was needed