Why You Won't See The Royals Eating Shellfish

How great it must be to be born into royalty. From your first day on Earth, you've got all kinds of cool things going for you, from sweet housing, nifty titles, and an absolute lock on getting into the best schools for your education. There's also the fact that members of the royal family don't really have to work a day in their lives if they don't want to. To their credit, the British royal family does a pretty good job of making sure its members dedicate their lives to service. Per its official website, the stated mission of the royal family is to "support The Queen in her many State and national duties, as well as carrying out important work in the areas of public and charitable service, and helping to strengthen national unity and stability." Additionally, members of the royal family have frequently served in the British military, with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, even covertly deployed to a war zone in Afghanistan in 2008, the first to do so since his uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, in the Falklands War (via The Telegraph).

So, despite being born with all the advantages, members of the royal family are meant to live lives of service and sacrifice. One of the advantages they sacrifice is the consumption of certain food items considered by many to be delicacies. Here's why you won't see the royals eating shellfish.

You won't catch members of the royal family going to town on some freshly shucked oysters, partaking of shrimp cocktail, or enjoying the particular part of surf and turf that comes from the sea. The reasons behind this rule are the inherent risks of food-borne illness. As the BBC reported, Queen Elizabeth II ordered this proscription to avoid any interference with the royal family's duties when traveling abroad. Given that they travel with sizable entourages, it makes sense to avoid unnecessary risks, like food poisoning, no matter how tempting and delicious the foods causing it may be.

Despite the prohibition against seafood, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, revealed in September 2018 that he and wife Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, enjoy sushi, as The Independent reported at the time. The publication also included an image of Prince Charles enjoying an oyster, pictured alongside Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at the Whitsable Oyster Festival in 2013.