For Princess Anne, entertaining guests does not appear to involve elaborate menus, lengthy dinners or hours of lingering conversation.

The Princess Royal, 76, has developed a remarkably practical approach to hosting. Guests at her home may be served simple food, dessert can come in the form of a supermarket Choc Ice, and Anne has made it clear that she would prefer everyone to be on their way home by 9:15 p.m.

The approach fits neatly with the image Anne has built over decades: direct, practical and famously uninterested in unnecessary ceremony.

Anne, the younger sister of King Charles III and the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II, separated from her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, in 1992. Away from the formal occasions associated with royal life, her approach to entertaining is considerably more down-to-earth.

Anne’s very specific deadline for dinner guests

The Princess Royal has previously spoken about her preference for keeping an evening at home relatively short.

Her solution is remarkably straightforward. As Anne once explained:

“After all, one wants everyone out of the house by 9.15 pm at the latest.”

And she has an equally memorable way of signaling that dinner is coming to an end.

“For pudding, I pass them a choc ice to eat in the car.”

The comments have become closely associated with Anne’s unconventional hosting style. Rather than extending the evening with another course, drinks or a long farewell, she essentially gives guests something sweet for the journey and sends them on their way.

The Choc Ice that doubles as an exit signal

A Choc Ice may sound like an unusual dessert choice for a member of the British royal family, but that is precisely what makes Anne’s approach so distinctive.

The familiar treat consists of vanilla ice cream covered in milk chocolate. It is an inexpensive, widely available supermarket dessert, rather than the sort of elaborate final course one might associate with a formal royal dinner.

Reports have described the Choc Ice as part of Anne’s informal strategy for bringing an evening to a close. Guests can take the dessert with them and eat it in the car, making the message clear without requiring an awkward announcement that the evening is over.

The dessert is also notably modest in price. A box of eight has been reported to cost around £1 to £2 in British supermarkets.

It is an amusingly efficient solution, but it also reflects something broader about Anne’s approach to entertaining: practicality appears to matter more to her than appearances.

Simple food instead of elaborate royal menus

Anne’s preference for uncomplicated meals reportedly extends well beyond dessert.

At her Gloucestershire home, Gatcombe Park, guests have reportedly been served traditional British food such as pork pies and Fray Bentos tinned meat pies. The latter are a familiar budget supermarket product rather than an extravagant delicacy.

Reports have also described meals accompanied by boiled potatoes, peas or green beans, with Anne said to favor whatever meat could be defrosted quickly.

The same practical approach has reportedly appeared in food prepared for her while traveling. Royal pilot Graham Laurie previously recalled that Fray Bentos meat pies were regularly carried on royal flights for Anne. The meals could include steak and kidney pie or chicken and leek pie, served with tinned vegetables and potatoes and a gravy enhanced with spices. Laurie described Anne as enjoying the change from more elaborate first-class food.

That preference for straightforward food has therefore been reported both at home and while traveling, reinforcing the picture of a royal who does not necessarily equate expensive or elaborate food with a better meal.

A practical attitude toward food

Anne’s relationship with food has attracted attention for other reasons as well.

Former royal chef Darren McGrady has said that Anne preferred bananas when they were almost black and very ripe because she found them easier to digest. She has also often skipped lunch, a habit reported to be shared by her brother, King Charles III.

Another anecdote involving chef Michael Mercer offers a similar glimpse into her priorities.

Mercer recalled preparing a six-course meal for Anne, only for the Princess Royal to drink a cup of Earl Grey tea before politely leaving without eating the elaborate meal. According to Mercer, Anne thanked him before departing, while her security team were happy to eat the food themselves.

The episode is consistent with the broader accounts of Anne’s eating habits: elaborate food does not appear to be particularly important to her simply because it has been prepared for a royal occasion.

Hospitality on Anne’s terms

There is an obvious contrast between Anne’s approach and the image often associated with royal entertaining.

Royal banquets can involve formal settings, multiple courses and considerable ceremony. Anne’s reported style at home is considerably more functional. Meals are simple, preparation is kept practical and the evening has a clearly defined endpoint.

That does not necessarily mean she dislikes good food. Reports have noted that Anne enjoys dishes such as fresh smoked herring and pheasant with cream and Green Label mango chutney, and that she may enjoy a good curry when she has time away from work. When working or attending formal occasions, however, she has reportedly tended toward lighter food.

Her home life also reflects this preference for simplicity. Accounts of Gatcombe Park have described a practical kitchen and a relaxed approach to food, with staff encouraged to make use of what is available and minimize waste.

Why Anne’s hosting style stands out

The details are amusing, but together they reveal a consistent pattern.

Anne appears to favor usefulness over display. A frozen pie can serve just as well as a complicated dish. Boiled potatoes and vegetables are perfectly acceptable accompaniments. A Choc Ice can replace an elaborate dessert, especially if it helps ensure guests are ready to leave on time.

Even the timing is part of the philosophy.

Her 9:15 p.m. deadline turns what might normally be an open-ended dinner party into something tightly organized. The evening has a beginning, a meal, a simple dessert and a definite finish.

That approach fits the Princess Royal’s long-standing reputation for maintaining a demanding schedule and treating time as something valuable. It also helps explain why stories about her food and entertaining habits continue to attract attention.

Behind the formal royal occasions, Anne’s reported hosting style is surprisingly ordinary in its ingredients and highly unusual in its execution. For her guests, the clearest sign that dinner is finished may be a Choc Ice placed in their hands as they head for the car.

And while King Charles III has his own well-known habits around food and entertaining, Anne’s approach remains distinctly her own: uncomplicated, economical and firmly governed by the clock.