King Charles III is well, king. Before ascending the throne in 2022, however, he spent decades as the Prince of Wales.

Besides embracing a passion for the environment and establishing charities, he … started a food brand. Yes, really. King Charles founded what’s known today as Duchy Originals. In the years since it has become hugely successful. Except it didn’t get Gordon Ramsay’s seal of approval.

King Charles started the Duchy Originals brand in 1990
Duchy Originals began in 1990. Five years earlier, the then-Prince of Wales made Home Farm, located near Highgrove, a “fully organic system,” (via CNN Business).

As the now-king explained to Country Life magazine in 2021, he wanted to develop more environmentally friendly farming practices. “Since the beginning of the 1980s, when I first had responsibility for managing some land in my own right at Highgrove,” he began.

“I have wanted to focus on an approach to food production that avoids the impact of the predominant, conventional system of industrialized agriculture,” King Charles said. “Which, it is increasingly clear to see, is having a disastrous effect on soil fertility, biodiversity, and animal and human health.”

Since 2009, Duchy Original has partnered with the U.K. grocery chain Waitrose. They have exclusive rights to sell many Duchy products, which are labeled as Waitrose Duchy Organic. Although it’s not the only place to find King Charles’s brand. Upwards of 30 countries offer Duchy Originals products, including the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Australia, just to name a few.

Gordon Ramsay got ‘upset’ with King Charles over the cost of Duchy products
Products from King Charles III’s Duchy Originals food brand, as seen in a Waitrose bag
A sampling of King Charles III’s Duchy Originals products

Chef Ramsay didn’t hold back when discussing Duchy Originals with the U.K.’s The Telegraph in 2008. The celebrity chef told the outlet at the time he’d been “upset” with King Charles regarding not only the prices but also the ingredients.

“I am upset with him,” Ramsay said. “When I looked at his Duchy food, I was gob-smacked, amazed, and dumbfounded at what I discovered. Why would anyone pay that much money for one of his pies?”

The MasterChef star continued, saying he “tried them” and wasn’t impressed. “Just because it has a stamp and his royal crest, everyone thinks it is fine. But the number of sodiums, and the sugar content, is embarrassing.”

In the years since Ramsay’s comments, Duchy Originals has grown to include nearly 300 products.

Duchy Organic is now overseen by Prince William as part of the Duchy of Cornwall
King Charles III’s biscuits from Duchy Originals, his food brand that ‘upset’ Gordon Ramsay

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King Charles passed the biscuit, or rather the baton, to his oldest son and heir, Prince William, upon taking the throne. With the 41-year-old now holding the Prince of Wales title, William, not King Charles, manages the Duchy of Cornwall — a private estate dating back centuries — including the food brand.

According to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, William is not likely to be as involved with the day-to-day running of the brand. “He’ll be interested, but he’ll entrust others to run it,” the Charles: The Misunderstood Prince author said.

As for how Duchy Organic has fared with taste testers besides Ramsay, the brand’s first-ever product, the Oaten Biscuit, as well as the Highland All Butter Shortbread, received high marks from Bon Appétit.

Now the largest organic food and drink brand in the U.K., Duchy Organic’s earnings, which total in the millions annually, are donated to charity.