Charles Elmé Francatelli, Maitre d’hôtel and Chief Cook in Ordinary to Queen Victoria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Charles Elmé Francatelli, drawn by Auguste Hervieu and engraved by Samuel Freeman, 1846; Credit – Wikipedia

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

A thank you to Colin Smythe who emailed me in 2020 and shared his article on Charles Elmé Francatelli which helped me fill in some missing details.

Charles Elmé Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria from 1840 – 1842. His story in the TV series Victoria is mostly fictional. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser) and had children.

Charles Elmé Francatelli was born in 1805 in London, England, the second son of Nicholas Francatelli, the first Francatelli to arrive in England. He was educated in France at the Parisian College of Cooking where he studied culinary arts with Antonin Carême, known as “The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings.” When Francatelli returned to England, he became chef de cuisine (executive chef) to several members of the nobility. He became chef de cuisine at the St. James’s Club, popularly known as Crockford’s.

For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine, and he returned to Crockford’s. Francatelli did have one more royal client. From 1863 – 1865, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House.

During his career, Francatelli was chef de cuisine at the Coventry House Club and the Reform Club. Afterward, he managed the St. James’s Hotel in Piccadilly, London, and finally the Freemasons’ Tavern, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Francatelli was a very successful cookbook author. In 1845, he published The Modern Cook which ran through twelve editions. His next book was The Cook’s Guide and Butler’s Assistant published in 1861. The same year, he published Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes which contained practical information valuable to the less affluent people. In 1862, The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book was published.

Very little is known about Francatelli’s personal life. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett as depicted in the television series Victoria) and have children. His first wife was named Elizabeth (circa 1807-1869, birth surname unknown). They had two children: Ernest (circa1835-1888) and Emily who was born about a year before Ernest.

After his first wife died, the 65-year-old Francatelli married again in 1870 to 25-year-old Elizabeth Cooke. They had a son named after his father, Charles Elmé Francatelli who was born in 1875, and two daughters who died in childhood: Violet (1872-1873), and Bessie (1874-1880).

Charles Elmé Francatelli died in Eastbourne, England on August 10, 1876, at the age of 71, leaving his widow with two young children. His widow Elizabeth Cooke died in 1882, leaving the only surviving child, his father’s namesake, as the guardian of her brother.

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Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

  • “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
  • “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
  • “Francatelli, Charles Elmé (DNB00) – Wikisource, The Free Online Library”. En.Wikisource.Org, 2018, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Francatelli,_Charles_Elm%C3%A9_(DNB00). Accessed 27 May 2018.
  • Oulton, Randal. “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. Cooksinfo.Com, 2018, http://www.cooksinfo.com/charles-elme-francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
  • Smythe, Colin, 2014. Charles Elmé Francatelli, Crockford’s, And The Royal Connection – Colin Smythe. [online] Colin Smythe. Available at: <https://colinsmythe.co.uk/charles-elme-francatelli-crockfords-and-the-royal-connection/> [Accessed 4 July 2020].