Every person who admires the royal family has probably dreamed about what it would be like living in the Palace. Unfortunately, most people won’t ever get to experience this dream.
That is unless you’re a chef. The Queen is occasionally on the prowl to look for new chefs to work at the royal kitchens. Think you can handle the job?
New Royal Chef
Royal chefs not only serve food for the Queen but also to her guests during state events
Just last month, the Buckingham Palace household announced that they are looking to hire a demi chef de partie. In case you’re not familiar with the term, a demi chef is basically an assistant chef to the executive chef. They are also known as station chefs or line cooks in American kitchens but retain their original name in British and French ones.
According to the job hiring post posted on the royal household’s official website, the lucky chef to win the position will receive $27,743 or £21,151 in salary per year.
While this is a bit less than the average salary for the position, hired royal chefs do get the chance to live and work full time at the Palace. Considering how expensive rent can be in London, having free living arrangements (and at the Palace even) is quite a perk that may cancel justify the lower salary.
Competition may be very tough though and the job advertisement is clear about who they’re looking for. Like in other kitchens, royal chefs work long hours and are under a lot of pressure to get things right. Thus, Her Majesty only wants ‘ambitious’ and ‘passionate’ candidates to apply for the position.
Job Benefits
Royal chefs are given the chance to work at other royal residence kitchens and probably encounter other members of the royal family on the job
Aside from living at the royal household for free, royal chefs also enjoy plenty of other benefits like free meals and a 15% contribution pension scheme from their monarch employer. What more, successful hires will most likely get to travel to other royal residences for work.
There’s also the fact that they’d be working in state-of-art-kitchens with the best of the best. The salary may not be big but the job will definitely look great on any young chef’s resume and open many doors for them afterward.
Unfortunately, chefs have to give up their weekends for work as the royal kitchens are bustling from Mondays to Sundays. Kitchen staff only work five days a week though. Queen Elizabeth is also generous enough to give her chefs 33 days of vacation time a year and access to recreational facilities
Other Preferred Skills
Chefs with a background in making desserts are typically preferred in the royal kitchens.
According to former royal chef Darren McGrady, the Palace has a few unspoken preferences for chefs when hiring. He says that cooks with experience or interest in making finger foods, entrees and desserts might have an edge over the competition.
McGrady also revealed that the Queen has given up eating carbs, except for finger sandwiches she eats during tea time, and has a liking for venison.
