King reveals he does not like his curry ‘too strong’ as he meets new MPs

The King revealed he does not like his curry “too strong” as he welcomed newly elected MPs and members of the House of Lords to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

The King and Queen, along with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, met the new MPs in the Ballroom on Wednesday afternoon.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, former prime minister Theresa May and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also attended.

The King and Queen with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a reception at Buckingham Palace (Aaron Chown/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Aaron Chown

Deirdre Costigan, Labour MP for Ealing Southall, said she spoke to the King about his “love of curries”, adding that he said he did not like his curry “too strong”.

She said: “He’s very knowledgeable, isn’t he?

“So I said, I’m from Ealing Southall, and straight away he was like, oh yes, he knew it was Little India, and he talked about his love of curries.

“And he also said, you’ve got a very big Sikh community there, don’t you?

The King with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Aaron Chown/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Aaron Chown

“So I asked him to come to Ealing Southall and check out the curry, I hope he will.

“But he also recognised straight away I had an Irish accent. He said, you’re Irish. And he said, it would be great to get a state visit as well.”

Asked if the King mentioned what sort of curry he liked, Ms Costigan replied that Charles said “not too strong”.

The King also met Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling and his guide dog Jennie and gave the golden retriever’s head a scratch.

The King with Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling and his guide dog Jennie (Aaron Chown/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Aaron Chown

Charles said to Mr Darling: “She knows her way around the house does she?”

Mr Darling said she knew the best place to go for the food.

The King then asked Mr Darling how the food was in the Houses of Parliament.

The Duchess of Edinburgh, who is patron of Guide Dogs, met Mr Darling and greeted Jennie by saying “Oh my goodness, I’m your patron”, before making a fuss of her.

Sophie knelt down on the floor to stroke Jennie and the dog gave her a paw.

Before meeting the King and Duchess of Edinburgh, Mr Darling told reporters Jennie “thinks the Palace of Westminster is her palace, and she’s the Queen of it, and everybody comes there just to love her”.

The Duchess of Edinburgh with Lib Dem MP Steve Darling’s guide dog Jennie (Aaron Chown/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Aaron Chown

He said: “So when we get off the train at Paddington, her tail is on such a high wag as we make our way towards the Central line, she knows where she’s going, and she’s really excited.”

Mr Darling said Jennie is a “good bridge builder for people from other parties”, which he said was “really important” as he could have conversations he otherwise would not have had.

Paul Waugh, Labour MP for Rochdale, said the King was very polite.

He said: “He was impeccably polite, as you’d imagine. Knows a lot about every constituency, got the sort of incredible encyclopedic knowledge of every area of the UK, as you might imagine.”

Mr Waugh added that he told the King Rochdale was the “home of the Co-op” and that he jokingly asked the King if he shopped at the Co-op, to which Charles “burst out laughing”.

He said the new MPs were honoured to be there, but the King “was making (it) absolutely clear we are the VIPs as well”.