Platinum Jubilee: Queen meets former student who invented coronation chicken
Dish was originally called ‘Poulet Reine Elizabeth’
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Your support makes all the difference.The Queen has met the former cookery school student who helped to create coronation chicken, the meal that was linked to the beginning of the monarch’s 70-year-long reign.
Angela Wood was just 19 years old when she helped invent the dish after spending days perfecting the recipe, which was originally named Poulet Reine Elizabeth, or chicken Queen Elizabeth.
The dish was first served during Her Majesty’s coronation banquet in 1953.
The food had to be prepared in advance, and the florist Constance Spry suggested a recipe of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs.
Spry’s recipe, which Wood helped her perfect, won the approval of the Minister of Works.
On Saturday, the Queen met with Wood in the ballroom of Sandringham House alongside members of the local community to mark the eve of her Platinum Jubilee.
The reception concluded with the cutting of a Victoria sponge with the Platinum Jubilee logo that had been iced on top of it.
The Queen ascended to the throne at the age of 25 on 6 February 1953, the same day her father, King George VI, died.
In her seven decade-long reign, she has seen 14 British prime ministers come and go and has travelled more widely around the world than any monarch before her.
The Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated around the country with an extra bank holiday on Friday 3 June.
According to the Royal Family’s website, the bank holiday will “provide an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate the historic milestone”.
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