Everything else is a pudding, and both are available at these lunches. Apple flan with cream from the Windsor Home Farm is often on the menu, as the Queen enjoys pastry dishes. Prince Philip is not the only cook in the family; the Queen used to do a little barbecue cooking and could turn her hand to a Scottish pancake. When she sent the then American President Eisenhower her recipe, which she had tried out on the grill, she advised him to ‘use golden syrup instead of only sugar, as that can be very good too’.

After lunch, everyone troops back into the Bow Room for coffee and liqueurs. Some of the Queen’s household come through, having eaten their own lunch in one of the staff dining rooms, just to mingle with the guests. The Queen and Philip then have the chance to talk to those they haven’t managed to talk with before. At precisely quarter to three, the Queen and the duke take their leave and people say their thanks and bow and curtsey. Then there is a dead silence, followed by an audible exhalation of breath as everyone relaxes.

The Queen and Prince Philip still enjoy a traditional Sunday lunch. At Windsor, the food is not sent up from the ground-floor kitchen until the family and guests have assembled in the Oak Drawing Room. Prince Philip’s good friend the late Sebastian Ferranti use to be a regular weekend guest, but sadly for the duke he has outlived most of his contemporaries, including his private secretary Brian McGrath. The Earl and Countess of Wessex are regular guests, as they come from nearby Bagshott Park with their children James and Louise, who often ride with the Queen on Saturday mornings. Now the Duke of York is travelling less, he too is a frequent lunch guest and only has to drive the three miles from Royal Lodge. He never drinks, but the Queen has a pre-lunch sherry, the duke a beer or a weak gin and tonic. As soon as the page sees they are all together, he sends down for the food. When it arrives, he murmurs either to Prince Philip or to the Queen that luncheon is served. The food is all waiting on a couple of hot plates on the sideboard by the windows.

They eat a small first course – usually a mousse – and then it’s straight into the roast beef, which the chef has already carved in the kitchen. The roast – medium done, never pink – will be beautifully, thinly cut and served with roast potatoes and greens – either cabbage served in small bundles, or spring greens and fresh peas. Nothing is ever frozen. They are all rather partial to an apple turnover pudding, and this is a favourite finish to the Sunday meal.