NEW YORK (TODAY) - There’s an endless supply of interesting trivia about Queen Elizabeth — like what she actually eats every day or, even better, the one food she'll never touch.
But perhaps our favorite new fun fact about the Queen of England is that she owns a McDonald’s in the UK about 80 miles outside of London. Yup, you read that correctly, the Queen is a fast food franchise-owner.
According to Business Insider, the Queen’s McDonald's is not owned by the Queen personally but by The Crown Estate and it's located in the county of Oxfordshire at Banbury Gateway Shopping Park.
The property, which opened in 2015, is part of a larger shopping center that includes a Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Marks & Spencer and a Primark, so The Crown Estate actually owns all of those shops, as well.
The royals haven't been known to frequent this particular Mickey D's but they have been seen in Banbury. A representative for Visit Banbury told TODAY Food over email that the last time a royal was spotted in Banbury was back in 2008 when the Queen visited. But there have been recent rumors that Prince Harry is looking for a home locally, in a town just on the outskirts of the county.
But it doesn't seem like the Queen, Kate, Wills or even Prince George often munch on Big Macs or Nuggets at the family franchise. "We really don't think any of the Royal family go to McDonald's and they certainly haven't been to the one at Banbury Gateway," the representative shared.
While the Queen has a pretty disciplined diet, you’ll find a lot of traditional fast food fare at her McDonald's. Like most McDonald's locations in the UK, it offers "proper English breakfasts,” which include local favorites like bacon rolls and tea. Other UK-specific menu finds include porridge as well as cheese and herb melts. But these items are found on most Mickey D's menus across the pond and are not just limited to the Banbury location.
This McDonald's location is also somewhat futuristic. There's free Wi-Fi, Samsung tablets at tables and even phone charging stations. It even offers table service! That feels pretty luxe to us ... but that's to be expected from a property owned by a royal family.
The representative did acknowledge that many of these upgrades "are not specific or exclusive" to the Banbury location.
That said, it seems customers make the very same restaurant complaints at this McDonald's as they would at any other non-royal location.
Even if the Queen isn't often sampling the product, maybe other royals are. Princess Diana famously loved McDonald's and would take Princes William and Harry there on occasion — just as a treat, of course.
Perhaps the tradition will continue with Will and Kate's children!
