Famous Eaters - HRH Queen Elizabeth II

NAME: HRH Queen Elizabeth II

AGE: 79

FAVOURITE FOOD: roast beef, lamb cutlets, shepherd's pie, scones, bread and butter pudding, ice cream.

Born in 1926, Elizabeth was crowned Queen on 2 June 1953 and is currently fourth in the all-time list of longest serving British monarchy. Her great achievements include creating a new species of dog - the dorgi - when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund named Pumpkin belonging to Princess Margaret. So far there have been eight dorgis born into the world at the palace.

Her Maj lists taking afternoon tea among her favourite pastimes. Alongside her special blend of royal tea, taken strong with just a dash of milk, are scones, potted shrimps and thin cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

Curries are a no-no on the palace menu as spicy foods just simply do not agree with Liz's delicate taste buds. She prefers more simple and traditionally British meals such as roast beef, lamb cutlets and bread and butter pudding. A strict policy of no waste is also in operation with leftover roasts being recycled into shepherd's pies and rissoles.

Her favourite apéritif is a Martini, shaken not stirred, finished with a twist of lemon rind.

A BBC documentary, All the Queen's Cooks, revealed that tomatoes can only be served when all the pips have been removed to save them from becoming lodged in between the royal chompers and that it can take up to three hours for servants to lay the dinner table.

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson once famously escaped from a driving ban for speeding en route to the opening of the Channel Tunnel, where he was due to cook for the Queen. Having overslept suffering the after effects of a night out, he argued in court that he was forced to choose between the law and Queen and country. He escaped with a couple of points on his licence.