How to make coronation chicken, served in 1953 to mark Queen Elizabeth’s ascent to the throne, and the story behind the dish

The founder of Le Cordon Bleu cookery school was asked to come up with a dish to serve guests at the coronation lunch in 1953. Coronation chicken was the result

Home cooks can make it easily – there are no hard-to-find ingredients and you can use a whole chicken or chicken breasts. Make your own mayonnaise if you like

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Poulet Reine Elizabeth (coronation chicken) as served in 1953 at the lunch following Queen Elizabeth’s coronation ceremony, which came a year afer she ascended to the British throne. PhotoL English Heritage

Published: 1:45pm, 4 Jun 2022

Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum jubilee this February when she marked 70 years on the throne.

She ascended to the throne in February 1952 after the death of her father, George VI, but didn’t celebrate her official coronation until over a year later on June 2, 1953.

According to Food Network, the queen and her guests ate Poulet Reine Elizabeth – known as coronation chicken – at her coronation luncheon. The dish is credited to florist Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume, the founder of Le Cordon Bleu London.

“Sir David Eccles, the Minister of Works, exclusively asked Rosemary Hume and her students to undertake the luncheon for Her Majesty’s guests, who were mainly representatives of other countries,” the Le Cordon Bleu website reads. “Sir David Eccles had great faith in the students’ abilities and without a hitch the luncheon was served at two o’clock.”

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on the day of her coronation. Photo: The Print Collector/Getty Images

Ahead of the jubilee celebrations, Business Insider’s Lauren Edmonds made an adapted version of coronation chicken shared by English Heritage. Although the number of ingredients initially looks intimidating, coronation chicken is very simple to assemble and resembles a chicken salad.