Metro Detroit chef offers inside take on food to expect at royal wedding

Kieron Hales has worked at Buckingham Palace

DEXTER, Mich. – A Metro Detroit chef who has worked at Buckingham Palace, cooked for the queen and played golf with William and Harry gave Local 4 an inside look into the royal wedding.

Kieron Hales knows his history about food and the royal family, and based off that knowledge, he said he has a pretty good idea about some of the food that might be served at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.

Hales is the head chef and managing partner at Zingerman's Cornman Farms in Dexter, which is about 20 minutes outside Ann Arbor. Zingerman's Cornman Farms is a place for weddings and other special events.

Hales is from England and is an expert on British food. He's traveled the world, cooking for some pretty heavy hitters, including U.S. presidents and the queen of England.

"When I worked at Buckingham Palace, for the garden parties, I did much of the sandwich work and the aspic work," Hales said.

He even has the queen's favorite chocolate cake recipe.

"She has this chocolate cake," Hales said. "It's a chocolate biscuit cake. It's a little bit like chocolate French cake. The recipe is from the second World War. It's a low-sugar recipe because of the cost of sugar back then."

Hales has an incredible cookbook collection. Many of his cookbooks have historical menus and recipes served to the royal family over the years.

For the upcoming royal wedding, Hales said he expects some of the food to be traditional, but there will also be a taste of what's in season. He had a scoop on some of the sweets that could show up on the menu.

"So we got a really nice selection of some regional English desserts," Hales said. "With Harry being about my age, these are the same things Harry's grandmother would have at her table.

"As far as the berries, we've got summer pudding on May 19, which is when the wedding is. The strawberries are just coming into season. There will be blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in season in the UK, so this would be a perfect time to do that."

He also talked about some of the other possible culinary details.

"It's very clear that lamb is in season," Hales said. "I think William did lamb at his wedding, so whether he drifts off into beef or stays on the Italian side for Meghan, I think the entree is going to be something like British lamb or British beef.

"The wildcard is what Meghan brings to that table with the Italian food and pasta and super healthy eating. There isn't anything super unhealthy about British food. It's just a little more robust.

"The reality is there's all these specifically regional food in the UK. The UK is the size of Michigan. It's tiny. It's not that big, so what I think they're sleeping giants as far as the food that's out there. So I think Harry and the palace understand this is an opportunity to say, 'Hey, this is how great our food is,' and put it on the front seat."

The royal wedding is less than two weeks away, and Local 4 has much more coverage of the event. Tim Pamplin will be at Windsor Castle with the "Knightcam" for the big day on May 19.

You can visit the royal wedding page by clicking here.


About the Authors:

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.