The 2025 soiree will celebrate Anglo-Italian relations and be “a commuting of our two cultures,” Tucci said
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Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attends the “A Starry Night In The Nilgiri Hills” event hosted by the Elephant Family in partnership with the British Asian Trust at Lancaster House on July 14, 2021 in London, England and Stanley Tucci attends the “Conclave” Headline Gala during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on Oct. 10, 2024 in London, England
King Charles has commissioned actor Stanley Tucci to design a menu for a party at his country home, Highgrove, next year.
According to The Telegraph, the King, 76, personally requested Tucci’s involvement in a private dinner to celebrate Anglo-Italian relations. Tucci — who became acquainted with the monarch after meeting him at a Prince’s Trust event last May — told The Telegraph he was designing the menu for the party, set for 2025 and meant to be “a commuting of our two cultures,” Tucci said.
“Now, okay, I won’t actually be in the kitchen cooking for him,” the actor told the outlet. “But the Italian ambassador came to me and said, “I want to do a meal, and Charles would like you to participate,’ so I’ve been coming up with the menu.”
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Prince Charles, Prince of Wales shakes hands with Stanley Tucci as he attends the Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink awards, held at Fortnum & Mason on May 16, 2019 in London, England
The menu will include roast pork, kale and squash — “all of that nice, wintry, heavier stuff,” Tucci said, adding that the meal would “showcase all of this incredible British produce.”
Tucci praised the King for eating seasonally long before it was a trend, saying that “Charles was into that way before anyone else. He was way ahead of his time.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla speak with members of staff during the launch of “The Coronation Food Project”, to mark his majesty’s 75th birthday, as part of a visit to The South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance, part of the FareShare network, in Didcot, western England on Nov. 14, 2023
Calabrian chef Francesco Mazzei will cook for the soiree, and Tucci has a personal connection to him — Mazzei was the chef at his own wedding to literary agent Felicity Blunt (the sister of actress and fellow The Devil Wears Prada cast member Emily Blunt) in 2012.
The theme of the event at Highgrove is “slow food and fashion,” two areas integral to the work of The King’s Foundation, which uses its base at Highgrove in Gloucestershire to offer training programs and workshops in heritage and craft skills — like embroidery — that the King fears are at risk of being lost to future generations, according to The Telegraph.
Though an actor, Tucci has also become known as of late for his deep love of food, regularly sharing recipes and cooking tips on Instagram, publishing cookbooks and starring in the television show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, in which he went from Milan to Venice on the hunt for local delicacies.
Charles’ party comes ahead of a planned state visit to Italy alongside Queen Camilla, The Telegraph reported. The King and Queen, 77, last visited Italy in 2017, when they spent six days in Florence, Naples, Rome and the Vatican.
