King and Queen dine with Beckhams and Helen Mirren to celebrate Italian cuisine
The King and Queen have been joined by Victoria and David Beckham, Donatella Versace, Dame Helen Mirren, Edward Enninful and Stanley Tucci for a black tie dinner to celebrate Italian cuisine at Highgrove.
Charles and Camilla invited Italian-American Devil Wears Prada actor and well-known foodie, Tucci, and the Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini, to the Gloucestershire estate on Friday night to enjoy a feast of sustainable ‘slow food’.
The King and Queen, who was wearing a Fiona Clare dress, were seen chatting to the Beckhams and Dame Helen.
David Beckham told Camilla how much he loved their Cotswolds estate, adding: “It’s beautiful there, so beautiful. We love it. We are very happy there. We’ve got chickens…”
Camilla interjected: “I’ve got chickens too!”
He suggested that his wife was not so keen on gardening but added: “I love it.”
He told the King how proud he was of his role as a King’s Foundation ambassador and thanked him for the opportunity to get involved.
Victoria Beckham admired the work of his students, telling him: “The workmanship and the craftsmanship is phenomenal.”
Charles made a martini under the tutelage of Italian mixologist Alessandro Palazzi and laughed when the lemon almost went up his nose as he tried to take a sip, then declared it “great”.
The King gave a speech at the dinner and said slow food and Italy are “dear to my heart”.
He said he was “especially pleased” the dinner comes just a few weeks before the state visit to Italy, adding: “To say that we are looking forward to it would be to engage in a little British understatement…”
The King started and ended his speech speaking Italian, to which the room cheered and clapped.
Mr Lambertini also gave a speech, as did Tucci who began by joking “this is just the first of 15 pages”.
The menu was created by renowned Italian chef Francesco Mazzei and inspired by Tucci, who fronted the TV series Tucci – The Heart Of Italy.
Mr Mazzei told how he had travelled across the UK to source ingredients for the meal.
The dinner menu included Scottish crab panzanella, Westcombe ricotta and Highgrove fine herbs ravioli, Isle of Wight tomato passata, Suffolk red porchetta, pumpkin and sage mash, Tuscan kale and zuppa inglese and biscotti.
Mr Mazzei said: “This is my first time cooking for the King. I’m quite excited about that.
He said: “I was in Devon two weeks ago to get the salumi. I went to see the pigs where the belly comes from.
“The tomatoes for the passata are from the Isle of Wight.
“I am really happy to be able to create this menu. If they enjoy it – I don’t know – but I tried my best.
“I made a report of where I had been, so it is all there and documented. I sent this to the royal chef and said ‘make sure the King sees this’.”
Created using British ingredients blended with Italian culinary traditions and local flavours, the dishes aimed to embody the principles of slow food.
Mr Palazzi said his recipe for the event was a half measure Sacred English vermouth from Highgate with one part Polish vodka and three parts Gordon’s gin.
He said: “The martini is shaken very well and has to be served cold.”
The slow food initiative was launched in 1986 in the small Italian town of Bra when food writer Carlo Petrini took exception to the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, leading to widespread national protests.
It promotes the right to good, clean and fair food for all, and strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine.
Charles has long been a champion of the philosophy.
The event also promoted ‘slow fashion’, with the King and Queen meeting King’s Foundation’s students and being shown garments demonstrating their sustainable fashion and heritage skills.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the King and Queen are to pay state visits to Italy and the Vatican.
The major spring tour, which has long been trailed in the media, will take place in early April and coincides with Charles and Camilla’s 20th wedding anniversary.
They will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican and celebrate the Catholic Church’s Pilgrims of Hope jubilee year.
In Italy, the couple will visit Rome and the north-eastern city of Ravenna, known for its early Christian mosaic artwork.
Charles, 76, is forging ahead with regular overseas trips this year as he adapts to living with cancer.
The development emerged at the end of the King’s long-haul visit to Australia and Samoa, which was described as the “perfect tonic” for the monarch.
The couple will attend the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, which is located in the Vatican – the smallest independent state in the world, which is surrounded by Rome and is the residence of the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
The King is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The role dates back to Henry VIII, who named himself Supreme Head of the Church of England after he was excommunicated by the Pope and broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century to marry Anne Boleyn.