The Classic Pizza Type King Charles Prefers
Pizza is a staple in most American households. Per Eat This! Not That, Americans eat 21,000 slices every minute. Whether you are buying one frozen from your local grocery store, ordering in, or outshining everyone else by making homemade 'za with all your favorite toppings, chances are, when you do eat it, you're among the majority of Americans who nosh down on this meal at dinner time (via USDA). But what might surprise you to learn about pizza is it has a deep connection to royalty.
While there is a list of common foods the late Queen Elizabeth rarely ate, and pizza certainly numbers itself among those, per US Weekly, these savory pies have found a regal fan base over the years. According to History Today, pizza has been around for centuries. The site goes on to share pizza really didn't take off until the 18th century when it became a breakfast go-to for the people of Naples. However, because it was a meal associated with the poor, not everyone readily embraced it. But that all changed for this humble pie when a certain Italian king and queen gave their "seal of approval" to the very pizza King Charles is said to favor.
Named for a queen
Per History Today, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita are credited with propelling what we know as margherita pizza to culinary fame. As the story goes, when the Italian royals were visiting Naples in 1889, a local pizza maker named Raffaele Esposito made three pizzas for the king and queen to eat. Queen Margherita's favorite was topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, and it was then named for the monarch.
As it turns out, margherita is also the go-to pizza for King Charles. A few years back, during a visit to St Boswells, the royal received a pizza from one of his fans, and at the time, King Charles revealed his excitement. The fan, who also was a pizza maker, told a media outlet, "I wanted to give him the pizza as he is such a big part of this country. He was curious, he smiled and I said, 'It's a margarita.' I believe the Prince said, 'It's my favourite' (via Hello Magazine).
But the king is not the only member of his family who has an affinity for pizza. The Princess of Wales shared that her children, George and Charlotte, like to make pizza dough together, per People, because they get to get their hands dirty.