The Fast Food Franchise That Was Once Owned By Queen Elizabeth

Yahoo

4 days ago

How do the rich stay rich? By diversifying their investments, of course. The British royal family, when not attending functions and waving elegantly at passersby, maintains a sprawling real estate and business empire that keeps the coffers full. When Queen Elizabeth II was still alive, she owned castles, along with, um, all the dolphins that dared enter British waters. But there were slightly more humble holdings as well — including, in a way, a McDonald's franchise in Oxfordshire.
The Queen didn't exactly own the franchise herself. However, the Banbury Gateway Shopping Park, in which the eatery is located, sits on land owned by the Crown, which would have technically made Queen Elizabeth the restaurant's landlord. Talk about golden arches! This wasn't even the first time the Crown was involved with McDonald's. The Queen also purchased a retail park in 2008 called Bath Road Retail Park that included a McDonald's, along with a sporting goods store and a maternity store, though it was sold in 2016 for £120.25 million (the equivalent of just over $138 million) — a nice bit of profit, considering the park cost her £92 million (around $106 million) to acquire.
The Banbury Gateway Shopping Park has now passed to King Charles III, who can boast an even wider array of fast food franchises, with his Crown Estate renting space to McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway locations. However, it would appear that none of those cuisines quite tickle his fancy, as his go-to take-out food is reportedly pizza.
Read more: 14 Fast Food Burgers That Are Always Fresh And Never Frozen
If you're picturing Ronald McDonald and the Queen of England sipping tea and nibbling on nuggets while gossiping about the Burger King, we're going to have to disappoint you. While Queen Elizabeth did have the occasional hankering for a kebab or a spot of fish and chips, she otherwise avoided fast food entirely — which makes sense, considering her army of royal chefs.
While Princess Diana would often take Princes Harry and William to McDonald's as a weekend outing, the Queen kept to a rather strict diet when not entertaining. She eschewed both carbs and finger foods throughout the day, aside from her morning teatime biscuits and her afternoon teatime cucumber sandwiches.
On the rare occasions she did yearn for a hamburger, it was never a Big Mac, but rather made from venison and served with knives and forks and no bun. Eggs were a special treat, but when she did have them, Queen Elizabeth enjoyed scrambled eggs with two special ingredients: nutmeg and lemon zest. Her real indulgence, though, was chocolate. As far as vices go, that's a pretty relatable one for royalty to have.
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Read the original article on Food Republic.