A Nottinghamshire chef who worked for the royal household has paid tribute to the Queen as a ruler - and a "very nice employer". Des Sweeney was a junior chef amongst a 16-strong brigade in the kitchens at Buckingham Palace for four years.
Mr Sweeney, who now runs the Kitchen at the Cross Keys in Epperstone, recalled the first time he met Her Majesty in 1979. "When you first met her you were like 'oh my God that's the Queen'. I was leaning over the mixing machine making bread and I heard someone say 'Is the chef around?' softly spoken and I said 'he's gone for breakfast' and turned around and it was Her Majesty."
The chef was following the news all day on Thursday (September 8) and was at work when he learnt of her death. "It's very sad times. Someone doing their job for 70 years is quite an achievement. She was a lovely lady and a very nice employer, very polite, very formal. It was an honour and a privilege working for her."
Read more: Nottingham mourns Queen Elizabeth II as nation enters period of mourning
There were banquets catering for 200 visitors but at times it was cooking for just two. Mr Sweeney travelled regularly to cook for the Queen when she visited the royal residences at Balmoral and Sandringham, where the chefs saw much more of her than at the palace.
"It was very much the family home so they'd be in and out of the kitchen and just chatting day to day, asking ''what are we having for dinner?' At Balmoral in August they'd do a lot of barbecues and we'd get everything ready for them. She'd sprinkle the chives over the salad and tell people she'd made the salad. She'd do the washing up in chalets out in the fields and bring it all back to us."
The Queen championed British produce, in particular lamb and salmon and was very conscious of the seasons, only having strawberries in June. Garlic and spicy food were avoided because of meeting people.
"She was like everyone's favourite grandmother," added Mr Sweeney, who previously worked as a head chef at Woodborough Hall and Punchinello's in Forman Street. He recreated some of the Queen's favourite dishes for a BBC1 series Royal Recipes in 2017 - a main course of venison wellington and jam-filled crepes for dessert.
The latter, pancakes with raspberry jam, cream and fresh raspberries, was first served to the Queen and Prince Philip, on a state visit to Iceland. It went down so well that it became a favourite of the royals whenever they visited Balmoral, where fresh Scottish raspberries were used to make the jam.
The Queen died in Balmoral at the age of 96. Prince Charles has become King Charles III - and, in a statement released through the Palace, he said "her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country".
A period of royal mourning will be observed until seven days after the Queen’s funeral, the date of which will be confirmed in due course, Buckingham Palace said. Buckingham Palace said royal residences will close until after the Queen’s funeral, including the Queen’s Gallery and the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, as well as the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh.
Royal Mourning will be observed by members of the royal family, royal household staff and representatives of the royal household on official duties, together with troops committed to ceremonial duties, Buckingham Palace said.
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