King Charles has admitted he needed “little persuading” to host a dinner attended by Stanley Tucci and Beckhams.
The King and Queen Camilla held a UK-Italy dinner this evening at Highgrove Gardens to celebrate Slow Food and Slow Fashion.
The prestigious event was attended by Italian-American actor Stanley Tucci, David and Victoria Beckham, Helen Mirren and Donatella Versace.
In a speech, the monarch spoke briefly in Italian before saying: “It is a great joy for my wife and I to welcome you all to Highgrove and, above all, to be able to offer our warmest gratitude to Ambassador Lambertini, to Stanley Tucci, and to chef Francesco Mazzei for their combined efforts to arrange such a special Italian occasion (I can only hope they are still talking to each other at the end of it all!)
King Charles admits he needed ‘little persuading’ to host dinner attended by Stanley Tucci and Beckhams
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“Together they conceived and delivered this most splendid evening which brings together two things very dear to my heart – slow food and Italy.
“Our two nations share so many ties – between our peoples; between our cultures; a deep friendship rooted in shared values, mutual affection and mutual respect.
“A nation’s food culture is a priceless social and environmental asset, intimately bound up with its sense of identity and place. Good food brings people together and what we choose to eat helps to define us – as families, communities and nations.
“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!
King Charles and Stanley Tucci at the dinner in Highgrove
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“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.
“But it is about more than that: how we produce our food, and indeed our fashion, and how we source it is intimately entwined with the very future of our planet, and our ability to continue living on it sustainably.
“I can scarcely believe that it is over 21 years since I spoke at Carlo Petrini’s Terra Madre conference in Turin – dedicated to the cause of slow food which Italians have long pioneered.
“I am delighted that in the intervening two decades, a subject which was perhaps a niche interest is now at the heart of discussions about a sustainable future for our planet.”
Victoria Beckham curtsying as she greeted Queen Camilla
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Helen Mirren, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham and Queen Camilla pictured at Highgrove Gardens
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The 76-year-old added: “So, when you first put the idea of this dinner to me, I needed little persuading. And I am especially pleased that it comes just a few weeks before my wife and I will be paying a State Visit to Italy.
“To say that we are looking forward to it would be to engage in a little British understatement.”
The monarch said another phrase in Italian, before concluding: “Let me propose a toast: to Italy’s timeless food culture, so loved here in the United Kingdom and across the world.”
