Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Part II

[Adagietto]

What amazes me above all about the kind of people whom Edward VII used to associate with is the amount that they managed to eat - makes one surprised that they had any energy left over for their extra-curricular activities!

[Lucien]

What amazes me above all about the kind of people whom Edward VII used to associate with is the amount that they managed to eat - makes one surprised that they had any energy left over for their extra-curricular activities!

Extra Curricular activities...LOL!!

[Constantinople]

and exactly what do you find wrong with a 12 course breakfast?

I stayed in a hotel that used to be a country house that entertained king George V and Mrs Keppel and they had that sort of breakfast if you wanted it.  Kippers etc etc

[Adagietto]

And a couple of pheasants before going to bed. I hope your hotel served up some good kedgeree.

[Lindelle]

I was merely reporting what I had read in an British newspaper - I didn't make any personal comments (adverse or otherwise)  I agree with Chris' sensible take on the situation and agree wholeheartedly.

As someone who has a 35 year marriage under her belt and is the same age as Charles and Camilla, I can well empathise that they are leading separate lives.  It's just the immature tabloid journalists who have to have a story who cannot understand this way of doing things.  From a personal point of view, I only wish I had numerous houses being run by servants as a bolt hole - oh I nearly forgot and being paid for by someone else !!!!!!!

Well said!
I have a 25 year marriage under my belt and though I'm not the same age, i can well emphasis.

[Constantinople]

I have had Kedgeree in Scotland with some landed gentry friends.   One of India's gifts to Britain.  The hotel was great and if i get to England again and dont need to be in London, I would stay there again.  It has 4 acres of gardens and if you ask and if it is available, you can stay in the room that King George used.  It is callled the Warren House Hotel.

[Robert_Hall]

 I know kedgeree is a traditional dish, and most of my friends like it. I however, can't stand it nor Scottish eggs. And do NOT get me started on haggis !
  Chiarles probably laps this stuff  up wearing his kilt.
 On the other hand, I  made a curry  that my best friend in England just sent me and it was delicious.

[Constantinople]

Perhaps he laps the stuff up out of Camillas lap when she is wearing his kilt.

[Adagietto]

They say that curry is the English national dish. Kedgeree is about the only dish that can tempt me to eat an Edward VII style breakfast; one only encounters it among old-fashioned people. For a real historical experience one needs to try Brown Windsor soup.

[Constantinople]

Well I was actually served it for dinner.  I have had that.  It is served with sherry I believe its a bit like turtle soup in taste and richness.

[Kalafrana]

I too am puzzled about the enormous meals. I am fond of my food but one day at an Edwardian house party would be too much for me. Not so much the breakfasts - I think the set-up was that all these dishes were available but you simply helped yourself to what you wanted, buffet-style - but the five-course lunch and then the ten courses in the evening.

No wonder Edward VII was fat!

Ann

[Adagietto]

It  takes long training to eat gargantuan meals like that; the wonder is that not everyone was as plump as Edward.

[Margot]

It is interesting to remember that during the Regency period being 'well fed' or to be un PC for a moment 'Fat' was a sign of one's wealth as it was a physical manifestation of just how much and how well one ate. It was a type pre Veblen 'conspicuous consumption'.

I guess after the Victorian fashion of abstinence and moderation, the Edwardian aristocracy were merely echoing the Regency habit of guzzling quaffing such gargantuan meals basically because they could! The richer and more lavishly luxurious the better! Truffles, Foie Gras and Caviar galore! It was just another ritual in to fill the day. The Edwardian plutocrats and aristocrats were the ultimate example of Veblen's consumers and the most obvious example of Conspicuous consumption!

From Edward VII (A notorious snob!!!) who set the example downwards, it was a matter of the best of everything! Foie Gras, Caviar, Truffles, Caviar galore and champagne fountains! Such eras come and go and in British History the Jacobean era and the Regency era are two other periods where such conspicuous consumption hit such amazing heights! During the Regency period one was judged on just how well fed or to be brutally honest and utterly un PC how fat and rich looking you were! In the Jacobean era crushing hugely expensive pearls and mixing them into wine was the ultimate symbol of just how rich and successful you were! That and how long the banquets you hosted lasted and how many courses you could provide and how many performers you employed in your troupe for masquerades and revels! That and the inevitable hunts you could host!

It seems ironic that a hundred years a go, being fat or at least extremely 'well fed' looking were attributes associated with wealth. Ironic when today being Fat is linked to junk food and poverty whilst being thin is seen as a sign of success and a wealthier strata of society....In the UK that is at least and certainly here in NZ too!

[Lindelle]

Thanks, I shall have a look.
Do they manage to get through all the courses?

[Robert_Hall]

 Most of  the food at those massive meals was not actually totally consumed at table.   Tatsted is more like it.  If the King was  there, after he finished what he wanted and his plate removed, EVERYONE'S plate was removed. Many people actually ate before  coming to dinner, otherwise they might go hungry.  Most of the food was not wasted, however, as  the servants got the left overs. And those houses required a lot  of staff. There own meals were usually rather meager, considering how much work they did.
 There are  not a few books on this subject but a recent one, EATING WITH EMPERORS by Jake Smith is the lateest and very  entertaining as well as informative. At least, so far. I have not finished reading it.