Kitchen worker loses job but keeps her head after poison food remarks

24 February 2000
Kitchen worker loses job but keeps her head after poison food remarks

A kitchen porter has been sacked from her role at Sandringham House, in Norfolk, for allegedly telling colleagues how easily she could slip cyanide into the Queen's food.

Monica Traub, who had been hired in December and was in her probationary period, was dismissed without notice for "gross misconduct" earlier this month. A Palace spokesman said her remarks had been "totally unacceptable".

She was reportedly shocked at her sacking, but history reveals much harsher treatment of others accused, often without proof, of a crime regarded as an un-British practice more in keeping with the Continental character as exemplified by the Borgias in the late 15th century.

Henry VIII was given to boiling suspected poisoners slowly to death. This fate famously befell Richard Rosse, the bishop of Rochester's cook, who poisoned 15 people and killed another two when he added laxative herbs to a stew as a joke.

And a lack of evidence failed to save Queen Elizabeth I's Jewish physician Dr Roderigo Lopez from being tortured to death in front of an anti-Semitic mob when the Earl of Essex accused him of plotting to poison the queen.

The Tudor monarchs routinely used food tasters, although more recent rulers have dispensed with their services.

Other British monarchs may themselves have been poisoners. Queen Eleanor was rumoured to have poisoned Rosamund Clifford, the favourite mistress of Henry II, while James I intervened to prevent the execution of his former favourite, Robert Carr, the Earl of Sussex, who was accused with his wife of poisoning his secretary Sir Thomas Overton.

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking