Late Queen's favourite teatime treat was posh biscuit you may not have heard of

The Queen's favourite accompaniment to afternoon tea is probably something you've never heard of

Despite being renowned for her timeless, regal elegance and immense historical influence, the late Queen Elizabeth did have some simple pleasures in life - including this particular biscuit you have probably never heard of.

A lover of traditional afternoon tea, according to her private chef of over a decade, the Queen always enjoyed a Chocolate Bath Oliver biscuit along with her brew. But this wasn't the only chocolate treat she enjoyed. Darren McGrady, who cooked for the queen for 11 years, told Hello! magazine: "She is absolutely a chocoholic. Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie."

You'd be forgiven for never having eaten Chocolate Oliver biscuits before, which are produced by the elite brand Huntley and Palmer and currently cost a whopping £8.49 per tin on the website - compared to 85p Tesco asks for a pack of their own-brand chocolate digestives.

Huntley and Palmer describe these indulgent treats as "Rich, dark chocolate, generously enrobed around a crisp, slow-baked biscuit. Chocolate Olivers are the ultimate biscuit indulgence, made using a patented recipe from the 1930s, featuring hops and malt, and coated in the thickest, richest dark chocolate."

According to Huntley and Palmers, a company that was founded in 1822 and was at one point the “The Most Famous Biscuit Company in the World," according to their website, claim that John Lennon of The Beatles once preferred to receive Chocolate Olivers instead of cash payment. For Queen Elizabeth, these biscuits were a comforting ritual amidst the demanding nature of her majestic royal life.

McGrady, who once catered to the Royal Family’s culinary needs, once also shared a recipe he prepared for the Queen’s afternoon tea at Balmoral – Scottish shortbread. He noted that they often used local ingredients from the estate’s grounds, including for these biscuits, courtesy of Balmoral’s own vegetable garden.

Queen Elizabeth apparently preferred her biscuits with a cup of Earl Grey tea, typically without sugar and sometimes with a splash of milk. McGrady has previously highlighted her sweet tooth, mentioning her occasional indulgence in desserts, but has claimed in the past that she "never was a foodie" favouring traditional British and French dishes over experimental cuisine.