It’s not every day that food royalty comes face-to-face with actual royalty.
But that’s exactly what happened when King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted Stanley Tucci, Helen Mirren, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Donatella Versace and more stars at their Highgrove House estate in Doughton, England on Friday, February 7.
Charles and Camilla dined with the Italian-American star and Maria Grazia Lambertini, the Italian Ambassador to the U.K., in celebration of “slow food and slow fashion,” according to a Buckingham Palace press release issued to Us Weekly.
Photos from the event show Charles, 76, rubbing shoulders with Tucci, 64, Mirren, 79, David, 49, and Victoria, 50.
Mirren stunned in a lacy green floor-length gown. She completed the look with a matching headband. David and Victoria donned coordinated outfits. The soccer player opted for a classic tux while the Spice Girls singer dazzled in a white satin gown. Tucci, for his part, looked dashing in a suit while wife Felicity Blunt wore a black dress.
The menu for the evening was created by chef Francesco Mazzei and inspired by Tucci, a renowned foodie who traveled across Italy for the docuseries Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy (2021) and the upcoming series Tucci: Heart of Italy.
“Good food brings people together and what we choose to eat helps to define us – as families, communities and nations,” Charles said in a speech during the dinner with Tucci.
“It brings us sustenance, but also comfort. It binds generations, as recipes are passed down from one to another. It is a thing of beauty — ‘edible art,’ as you have put it, Stanley! And I know that it provides — as it doubtless will this evening — a topic of endless fascination and discussion around every Italian family dinner table,” he added.
The king and queen also met with students and alumni from Charles’ charity, The King’s Foundation, as well as representatives of the slow food and slow fashion movements, which were created to promote fair and sustainable practices.
It’s not the first time the actor has met with Charles. The king was pictured speaking with Tucci at a Buckingham Palace reception in May 2023 and at a reception for Americans living in the U.K at Winfield House, London, in 2015.
The dinner comes as Buckingham Palace announced Charles and Camilla’s plan to visit Italy in April.
The couple will carry out engagements in the Holy See and the Republic of Italy. No dates have been confirmed yet, though multiple reports indicate that the trip could coincide with the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary on April 9.
