One does just love a tasty bit of rat

THE Queen may turn her nose up at garlic, but it appears she has the stomach for slugs and rats.

A new documentary reveals how the notoriously fussy eater has indulged in the dubious delicacies during state visits aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.

All the Queen’s Cooks will tonight lift the lid on the Leith-based yacht’s illustrious culinary past. In the programme, former Britannia chef Steve Love reminisces about his life aboard the royal yacht during the 1980s, which saw him catering for summer trips with the Royal Family to the Western Isles and further afield to the 1988 World Expo in Brisbane, Australia.

Mr Love also shows off his cooking skills, preparing a mouth-watering dish in the yacht’s Royal Galley.

The galley currently plays host to exclusive corporate events, and was named Most Excellent Venue 2004 by Conde Nast Johansens.

Less appetising are the revelations made by Tom Corby, the Press Association’s court correspondent from 1985 to 1992.

He recalls some of the more questionable local dishes the Queen stoically sampled whilst on state visits, including sea slugs in China and rat in Belize.

When visiting Italy in 2000, she banned cooks from using spaghetti and garlic.

She also forbids shellfish, rare meat, and foreign water from touching the royal palate.

The culinary disclosures contained in tonight’s programme are just the latest in a string of revealing insights into the Queen’s personal habits.

It was recently revealed that the Queen has ordered cooks at Buckingham Palace to recycle leftovers from Sunday roasts, turning them into the likes of cottage pies to be eaten during the week.

Earlier this year the Queen’s secret "handbag code" was made public. When Her Majesty holds it in the left hand, she is happy and relaxed, but if she switches it to the right she is not amused. More alarming still, if she plonks it on the dining table - that means her neighbour is boring her and she requires a lady-in-waiting to rescue her.

And last year a Daily Mirror reporter working undercover as a footman in Buckingham Palace revealed that the Queen’s breakfast table has embroidered napkins set beside Tupperware containers of cornflakes and porridge oats.

The documentary features interviews with an eclectic group of people who share the honour of having cooked for Her Majesty on board Britannia. These include celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson, who tasted distinctly less than regal cuisine on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!.

Also appearing are top chefs Gary Rhodes and Anton Mosimann, as well as the Daily Mirror’s veteran royal-watcher James Whitaker and the BBC’s royal correspondent Jenny Bond.

Julia Stephenson, head of marketing and visitor experience at Britannia, said she was "delighted" with the documentary.

"Viewers get the opportunity to find out more about Britannia from people who worked on board. We hope this will encourage more visitors to come to Britannia to find out what life was like for the Royal Family."

She added: "We also hope to raise the profile of the exclusive corporate events that can be held on board.

"The same high standards of service and cuisine are in evidence today as they were when Britannia was in royal service"

Launched at John Brown’s Shipyard, Clydebank, in 1953, the Royal Yacht served Queen and country for 44 years.

After clocking up 1,087,623 nautical miles, Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 and has become a five-star visitor experience, attracting some 300,000 people annually.

All the Queen’s Cooks will be shown at 10.35pm on BBC1.