After His Royal Pie-ness, Mail reader makes the Queen of Tarts!

Every king deserves his queen – even one made from pastry.

So when their Majesties’ reaction to Jackie Marshall’s King Charles pie at the Sandringham Flower Show went viral this week, there was only one thing for the retired research biologist to do – make a Queen Camilla too.

And while the 64-year-old grandmother of five might not have won any prizes for her savoury sovereigns, they have earned her a royal seal of approval as the designs went down well at the Palace.

Mrs Marshall, who spent her professional career working for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs before retiring with her husband Ralph to Swaffham in Norfolk ten years ago, does not count herself as a keen amateur baker.

But she is a talented gardener and has entered the annual Sandringham Flower Show every year for the past decade, this year submitting 27 entries.

Mrs Marshall, who spent her professional career working for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs before retiring with her husband Ralph to Swaffham in Norfolk ten years ago, does not count herself as a keen amateur baker

King Charles and Queen Camilla immortalised in pastry by  Mail reader Jackie Marshall

At the last minute another category titled ‘a dainty dish to set before a King’ caught her eye.

The keen royalist decided to give it a go in honour of the coronation.

‘I found a tin foil case that you have frozen ducks in and shaped it like the king’s head. Then I made my shortcrust pastry and filled it with fruits from my freezer – apple and rhubarb. I just worked out the decorations on a bit of paper,’ she says.

But the ears?

‘Ah yes,’ she laughed, ‘the ears. Well, I made two sizes and my husband told me to choose the larger ones. So I knew if either of us got sent to the Tower it would be him!

‘Unfortunately the pastry rose a bit in the oven and they got even bigger. I was actually horrified when I saw them.

‘But I knew Charles would see the funny side of it. He has had it all his life and has a good sense of humour. I just thought I’d go for it.’

She placed her entry in the baked goods tent on Tuesday but had no idea it had caused such a stir until her husband downloaded the Mail Plus digital edition of the Daily Mail on Wednesday afternoon.

Camilla, 76, made a beeline for the pie when they toured the show earlier that morning, telling the Mail: ‘It looks just like my husband!’

Fortunately Charles, 74, did indeed see the funny side, chuckling and joking: ‘Looks like something out of Wallace and Gromit!’

The Mail captured the moment on video and the clip went viral, with the story ending up in publications as far away as Adelaide in Australia.

Mrs Marshall had since been inundated with requests for interviews and had even been awarded a prize for putting Norfolk on the map.

But there was only one paper she wanted to debut her Queen Camilla in, explaining: ‘We had no idea it had caused such a stir until we saw the Daily Mail and realised that everyone was picking up on it online.

‘There were more than 300 mentions on Google alone. We just couldn’t believe it.

‘We are life-long Mail readers. It was the first thing we always did each day, buy a copy of the paper.

. Jackie in the kitchen of her home rolling out the partry for her Queen Camilla pie

Her Camilla confection took three hours to make and was decorated using edible silver balls for earrings and cochineal colouring for lipstick

‘But we now live in the middle of nowhere, it’s not so easy to get one in the morning. During Covid we started to subscribe to Mail Plus instead and now we download it every day. We wouldn’t be without it.‘

Her Camilla confection took three hours to make and was decorated using edible silver balls for earrings and cochineal colouring for lipstick.

Mrs Marshall forgot to add Camilla’s hair but said: ‘I am still quite pleased with my pie. I’ve given her a dainty nose and much smaller ears, so I’m actually delighted. It was such good fun to do.

‘I just can’t believe me and my pie have became media stars overnight.

‘I may not have won a prize for it but has brought so much joy to people that I feel like a winner. I’ve been overwhelmed with the reaction.

‘I feel so proud their Majesties saw it and had a laugh.

‘We are huge royalists and go to Sandringham every Christmas Day. I think the King and Queen are a lovely couple. They have really grown on me. They are just made for each other, they make each other happy. You can see that.’

While her kingly pie did not, sadly, win any prizes at the flower show, which is held every year in the grounds of the Royal Family’s private Norfolk estate with the profits going to charity, Mrs Marshall’s home-grown produce earned her £134 in prize money, with two first places and four coming second.

After the Mail’s photoshoot the family decided to tuck into King Charles, and declared it a thoroughly regal snack – that probably tasted better than it looked. 

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