ROYALTIES, naturally, do not yell and scream for their favorite
foods when out in company, so it's not easy to chart their gastro-
nomic adventures. But now and again news of the royal prefer-
ences leaked out.

Strawberries are high on the provision list of British royalty, as
they should be in every well-regulated dynasty. Queen Victoria
was a strawberry fan of the first order. She told somebody in 1875
that the strawberries weren't as good as they were when she was
a girl. She likewise declared that the violets did not smell as
sweet, and she attributed this all to the wicked gardeners, "who
have no feeling for sweet scents and would sacrifice every charm
of the kind to size and color." She said, also, they had spoiled
the strawberries from the same causes. She may have been right
at that, since old ladies still say the same thing.

Queen Victoria had no gastronomic passions, unless it was for
strawberries and asparagus. It would be fair to state that during
her reign of sixty-four years her intake included a little of every-
thing. Those were the days of huge and varied collations, and she
didn't starve. One scarcely pictures her as impetuous at table, yet
history relates that she tucked her napkin under her chin -- she
was built that way. And Mr. Creevey, the diarist, who took a look
at her during her early days of queendom, noted in his little
book: "She eats quite as heartily as she laughs -- I think I may
say she gobbles."

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