King Charles' Favorite Eggs Are Batch-Baked And Cheesy

You might not expect it, but what King Charles III eats in a day isn't that different from what a common person would eat — from plums and fresh fruit served at breakfast to snacks of biscuits with cheese (always served warm, per his request). But it's cheese that the king seems to love most of all. His passion for British cheese took off in the late 1980s, and in 1993 he became a patron of the Specialty Cheesemakers Association (via BBC). 

His work there culminated in a sort of symposium between artisan cheesemakers and members of the Ministry of Agriculture, and some even think he helped save his favorite food from extinction. Cheese shop owner Randolph Hodgson told BBC that he "really believed it would be the end of the great tradition of cheesemaking in the U.K. once and for all," but King Charles (who was Prince of Wales at the time) "brought everyone together and found a path through it all."

It's no surprise, then, to hear that King Charles' favorite breakfast dish is one that puts British cheese front and center. He shared his recipe for cheesy baked eggs on his official Instagram account during the pandemic, writing, "British cheesemakers need our support during this time of great uncertainty, and we can all help in the simplest way." That way, of course, was purchasing and eating artisanal British cheeses, something most foodies would be happy to do, even post-pandemic. His easy breakfast recipe is the perfect entry point.

King Charles III shared the recipe for his baked cheesy eggs, writing, "One thing that undoubtedly brings many of us great comfort is good food." That's true even when we're not in the throes of a public health emergency. In the spirit of the original recipe, try to find some British cheese to use when making it, if you can. The king recommends a strong soft cheese, like Tunworth (a soft, Camembert-like cheese) or Golden Cenarth (a semi-soft cheese with a cider-washed rind), and a hard cheese, like Old Winchester (similar in flavor to hard Italian cheeses, robust and semi-sweet).

The recipe includes wilted spinach, tomatoes, and fresh basil, along with soft cheese, a cracked egg, heavy cream, and grated hard cheese. The end result is a dish that's creamy, cheesy, protein-packed, and spotted with fresh flavor, thanks to spinach and tomato. But most importantly (in the king's eyes, at least), the cheese is the star, with the soft and hard British cheeses adding flavor, texture, and dimension to an otherwise simple recipe. Your brunch guests will feel like royalty when they find out you made them a recipe literally fit for a king, and your cheesemonger might just be impressed by your newfound fascination with artisanal British cheeses. According to the Specialist Cheese Association, you have more than 500 varieties to choose from.