Prue Leith Had An Embarrassing Blunder When Serving Queen Elizabeth's Tea

Perhaps best known as a judge on "The Great British Bake Off," Dame Prue Leith has worn many hats over the years. In addition to being a wildly successful restaurateur and culinary educator, Leith also spent time as a caterer. One catering gig proved to be quite memorable for the multi-hyphenate culinary star, as Leith found herself serving a cup of tea to none other than the late Queen Elizabeth II. As explained in a clip posted to Instagram, the experience did not go swimmingly. According to Leith, "She got weak lemony tea, when what she wanted was strong, black tea."

The first flub involved a lemon, which Leith added to Queen Elizabeth's cup of black tea only to be told, "No lemon, thanks." Upon removing the soggy lemon, she inadvertently stained what one could easily assume to be a pristine serving cloth. Leith then attempted to dilute the strong black tea with a bit of hot water, because as Leith explained, "I thought ... people who like black tea usually like it weak." Her instincts proved incorrect once again, and Queen Elizabeth stated, "I like it strong." The monarch reportedly had a preferred tea brewing method for her morning cup of Earl Grey that involved adding milk to it. But judging from Leith's lousy luck at the time, if the queen had asked for milk, the GBBO star probably would have spilled it and then cried over it.

It's no secret that Queen Elizabeth was quite serious about her tea. In fact, the royal family has strict rules dictating how to drink tea, including guidelines on the proper way to hold the cup. It appears that Prue Leith was fully aware of these intricacies, and even tried to avoid a faux pas by asking the Palace equerry (which is a person employed to assist Royals in their stately responsibilities) for tips on how to prepare the tea.

According to Leith, the equerry was less than forthcoming. As the baking show judge opined, "You'd think it was a state secret." This level of secrecy is a bit odd when you consider that someone tapped to make the tea should probably know the the queen's preferences (Twinings, the company that provides tea to the Royal Family, refuses to disclose the type she favored). The equerry recommended that Leith ask Queen Elizabeth what she wanted, which led to the flub. While Leith claimed she's "felt bad ever since" the royal tea blunder, her heart was definitely in the right place. And based on the outcome, a former chef's claims that Queen Elizabeth was challenging to cook for definitely ring true.