Meghan Markle has unintentionally confirmed a long-circulating rumor about her husband, Prince Harry — and it all comes down to his unusual eating habits.
In the second season of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, the 44-year-old Duchess of Sussex shared a surprising revelation about the Duke during a chat with Spanish-American chef José Andrés. Known for her love of cooking, Meghan told the chef that Harry “refuses” to eat one particular food — lobster.
“Do you know who doesn’t like lobster?” she said with a laugh. “My husband.”
Andrés immediately joked back, “And you married him?!”
Her offhand comment seemed to confirm a long-held belief about the British royal family — that seafood, especially shellfish, is often avoided due to the risk of food poisoning.
Former royal butler Grant Harrold previously told The Express that this long-standing practice has a practical purpose. “It is a very sensible move to abandon having seafood when out and about on public duties,” he said. “We don’t want a member of the royal family having a serious reaction to food poisoning, especially on an overseas tour. Therefore, you will not normally find this on the royal menu.”
However, the “royals-don’t-eat-seafood” rule hasn’t always been strictly followed. Back in 2013, King Charles — then the Prince of Wales — broke tradition at the Whitstable Oyster Festival, where he was photographed enjoying fresh oysters alongside Queen Camilla.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady has also challenged the myth, sharing a 1989 royal menu that featured soufflé de homard — lobster soufflé — served to Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
Still, Meghan’s lighthearted admission about Harry’s lobster aversion has reignited curiosity about the royal family’s culinary customs.
And when it comes to royal dining dilemmas, the family’s relationship with seafood isn’t the only one to make headlines. A chef invited to prepare dishes for Prince William’s 2025 Earthshot Prize banquet recently revealed he was told to scrap his plan to serve pirarucu, a giant Amazonian fish. The event, focused on sustainability, opted for a fully vegetarian menu instead.
“It’s like asking Iron Maiden to play jazz,” the chef told The New York Times after expressing frustration with the decision.
Whether Harry’s dislike of lobster is a personal preference or an unspoken royal habit, one thing is clear — even at the world’s most famous dinner tables, taste is never just about food.
