A Future Queen At A “Teeny” French Bistro
Imagine slipping into a tiny French bistro for onion soup and a glass of wine, only to realize the woman at the next table is the Princess of Wales celebrating her birthday with her mother and sister.
That is exactly what reportedly happened in the Berkshire town of Hungerford, where Catherine, Princess of Wales, is said to have marked turning 44 not with a palace banquet but with a family lunch at a local spot that calls itself “teeny.”
The restaurant, The Funghi Club, shared that it had hosted a “rather extraordinary guest.” Staff were left dazzled, calling the royal “utterly charming” and “every bit as radiant in person as you’d imagine.”
For a woman who has spent the past two years navigating major surgery, cancer treatment and a deeply personal creative project about healing, the choice of a modest bistro table over a glittering gala feels quietly powerful.
‘Teeny’ Bistro, Big Royal Moment
According to The Funghi Club, the Princess of Wales, who grew up in the Berkshire area, came in for lunch in Hungerford with her mother Carole Middleton and sister Pippa. The trio reportedly opted for the relaxed French cafe rather than anything remotely red carpet.
The team at the restaurant did not share photos. They made a point of explaining “you’ll understand why,” acknowledging the royal need for privacy. Instead, they offered words, and those words painted a very specific picture.
“No photos to share (you’ll understand why), but the entire team on duty reported the same thing: she was utterly charming, gracious and every bit as radiant in person as you’d imagine,” the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post.
They added that the visit was a “little moment of magic” for the small bistro, saying: “The jungle drums of Hungerford didn’t stop beating until well into Saturday. A little moment of magic for our small bistro and one we won’t forget in a hurry.”
The Facebook Post That Set Hungerford Buzzing
The Funghi Club described their royal guest as “rather extraordinary” and left it at that. No staged photo, no carefully lit dessert shot, just a quietly dazzled message from a team that had just served a future queen.
Locals and regulars quickly understood what that meant. Comments poured in celebrating not only the Princess but the bistro itself. One supporter wrote: “How amazing that she visited a local business and what great advertising for you.” It was the kind of grassroots royal moment that sends pride humming through a town.
The Funghi Club is not a hushed, members-only establishment. It presents itself as relaxed and unfussy, with a “carefree feeling, with no strict rules between starters, mains, or desserts.” The restaurant says it takes pride in “delicious, seasonal dishes and excellent value for money” and focuses on warm service.
Online reviewers seem to agree. The Hungerford branch has earned a strong rating on Google, with one diner calling a visit “an unforgettable meal” and praising dishes that were “bursting with authentic French flavour and beautifully prepared.”
A Princess Who Knows The Menu Prices
If you picture royal birthdays as towering cakes and crystal chandeliers, the menu at The Funghi Club is a pleasantly grounding surprise. The restaurant highlights that its à la carte dishes come in under 25.
At the Hungerford location where the Princess is said to have dined, options include a 9 onion soup, a 10 pork terrine and, for more of a splurge, a 21 beef bourguignon. The cafe serves soft drinks alongside wines and cocktails, creating the kind of setting where a birthday toast could be as simple as raising a glass over shared plates.
One previous guest raved about popping in “for a coffee and light lunch” and finding a gem. They described a warm welcome, “nice, clean decor” and a menu that left them “spoilt for choice”. Another review went into mouthwatering detail about a turkey baguette “wrapped in Alcace bacon plus tasty brie and homemade cranberry sauce” and a quiche Lorraine “really tasty with lots of the same Alcace bacon,” declaring the experience “worth driving from Warwickshire to try again.”
Against that backdrop, the image of the Princess of Wales slipping into a corner table with her mother and sister feels almost cinematic. No security cordon in the dining room, no velvet rope. Just three women who know the area well, choosing to celebrate in a place where an onion soup costs less than a glossy coffee table book.
‘Mother Nature’, Cancer And A New Kind Of Birthday
The bistro lunch was only part of how the Princess marked her 44th birthday. Around the same time, she also shared the conclusion of a project that has quietly charted her inner world through serious illness.
Kensington Palace released the final instalment of the year-long “Mother Nature” video series, titled “Winter”. The series has followed the seasons and explored the relationship between nature and wellbeing. For this closing chapter, viewers saw Catherine on an early morning walk in Berkshire, near her Windsor home, with her voice speaking over the film.
An aide described the series as “the culmination of a deeply personal creative project for The Princess, spotlighting humanity’s longstanding connection to nature, as well as nature’s capacity to inspire us and help us to heal and grow in mind, body and spirit.”
In the “Winter” episode, the Princess spoke directly about her own journey across the past two years. She mentioned her “fears” and “tears” alongside her healing and said she was “deeply grateful.”
“Even in the coldest, darkest season, winter has a way of bringing us stillness, patience and quiet consideration,” she said in the voiceover.
“Where the stream slows just enough for us to see our own reflection. To discover the deepest parts of ourselves. Alongside the whispers in the pulse of every living thing.”
Then came the line that now feels intertwined with that quiet bistro lunch: “I find myself reflecting on how deeply grateful I am. For the rivers within us flow with ease, fears washed away, cleanse and purify. Come to peace with our tears and discover what it means to be alive.”
From Major Surgery To Remission
The context behind those words is as public as it is deeply personal. The Princess underwent major abdominal surgery in January 2024. In the course of that operation, doctors found evidence of cancer, and she began a course of preventative chemotherapy.
She chose to announce the diagnosis herself in a video message released in March that year, speaking of the shock and the need for time and privacy while she focused on treatment and her young family.
Later that year, in September, she revealed that she had completed her chemotherapy. She was candid that recovery and any return to full royal duties would have to be “slow but steady,” emphasizing that her health would come first.
In the following January she shared that she was in remission. At the same time, she again asked for public understanding and space as she navigated her gradual return to public life.
Seen against that timeline, a simple birthday meal at a favourite kind of local spot is less about understatement and more about survival. It is the ordinary as a quiet victory.
Charm, Grace And A Different Kind Of Royal Power
For the staff at The Funghi Club, the key takeaway from hosting the Princess of Wales was not drama. It was character. They described her as “utterly charming” and “gracious” and said she was “every bit as radiant in person” as people imagine.
For supporters of the restaurant, the thrill was that she chose a local business at all. “How amazing that she visited a local business and what great advertising for you,” one comment read, capturing both hometown pride and the very real boost a royal visit can bring to a small enterprise.
For royal watchers, the moment ties several threads together. A future queen who speaks about coming “to peace with our tears” does not then retreat entirely behind palace walls. She walks in Berkshire at dawn for a film about healing. She sits down in a “teeny” bistro where the most talked-about item is beef bourguignon at 21.
There is glamour in tiaras and televised banquets. There is a different, quieter kind of power in showing up at a neighbourhood table with your mother and sister, in letting a tiny restaurant in a market town have its “little moment of magic.”
Catherine herself put it simply in her caption for the “Mother Nature” series, calling it “a deeply personal, creative reflection on how nature has helped me heal” and “a story about the power of nature and creativity in collective healing.” She added: “There is so much we can learn from Mother Nature, as we look to build a happier, healthier world. C.”
A tiny French bistro in Berkshire, a winter walk in the countryside, a princess who has discovered “what it means to be alive.” None of it involves a crown, yet all of it feels like the shape of the modern monarchy she is quietly helping to build.
