What Ever Happen to Hearty, Spanish Meals? King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía Go Low Fat

You would think Spain’s King and Queen would cheat a little on their respective diets during their recent visit to the U.S. (After all, what is a gastronomic peccadillo here and there?) But, as it turns out, the royal couple opted for a low-fat version of the meal they shared with 500 guests at a Royal Society Luncheon in Pensacola, Fl.

Jim Shirley, one of the five Pensacola chefs who prepared the lunch, said the menu was planned per Queen Sofia’s instructions. The chefs dutifully took her instructions and crafted a main course of grouper with tasso, charred sweet corn, lump crab and cheese grits for the guests. The king and queen enjoyed a low-fat version that consisted of grilled fish and wild rice.

Let them eat grease, she said. Just like Marie Antoinette.