Television kitchen icon Dame Mary Berry revealed that she accidentally turned down dinner with the Queen after thinking an invitation to the palace was “leftover.”

The 87-year-old former Great British Bake Off judge was inducted into the Radio Times Hall of Fame over the weekend (May 20, 2022) and was joined for the special occasion by her close friend and Strictly presenter Claudia Winkleman.

Prior to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Mary led the search for the Platinum Jubilee Pudding on a special BBC program, and speaking at the festival she shared her memories of dinner with the Queen, although she accidentally turned down the invitation at first.



Mary Berry recently led the search for Platinum Jubilee pudding

Speaking at the festival, she said: “I was alone in the kitchen and [the phone] rang and came from the palace.

“Well, I didn’t think it was from the palace, I thought it was my son Thomas playing with a friend of his. So obviously he was.

However, due to other commitments, Mary declined the invitation, adding, “She gave me the date and I looked at the paper and said, ‘I’m going to Earlam Hall and all the audience has paid for the tickets. able to go. Please thank him very much. “



Mary Berry turned down an invitation to the palace after thinking about her son

Despite this, Mary was then able to attend a dinner with the queen, whom she has met many times and which she considers a “highlight of her career”.

She also recalled that during her first audience with the queen, she was not the only expert cook in the room, but also the late Prince Philip.

“There were only 12 of us and that was really smart since they had an oval table and you normally have mum and dad on either end, right? But she and [Prince] Phillip sat in the middle, “said Mary.



Mary Berry considers meeting the Queen a

“I sat next to Prince Philip and he was very talkative and he said he was the barbecue expert,” adding that after describing his cooking technique to him, he thought, “He really knew how to cook. What he was talking about.” and that the Duke was also a huge fan of The Hairy Bikers.

However, Mary revealed that her favorite dinner time was the Queen’s faithful furry friends, adding, “The highlight for me was all the corgis running around.

“Then he finally took a little silver box, opened it and gave each one to her [a treat]. “

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