Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the algorithm has been really screwed up. I end up with the most random sh-t on my timeline. Some of it is great – for some reason, in the year 2025, people are still analyzing Mad Men and I love it so much – but some of it is like the worst, most dated and repetitive controversies from years past. Like, why are we still fighting over American tipping culture? There’s been another round of that on feed lately. Yes, Americans tip servers. Europeans don’t get it, and they don’t like to tip. Even when Europeans or Brits tip their servers, it’s nowhere near the percentage we’re used to in America. Like, if I get good service, I’m tipping anywhere between 20-30%. I would only tip 10% if the server screwed up my order. Well, Prince William went out to a pub lunch with eight other people, and William’s “team” paid. They left a £75 tip and the British papers are falling over themselves to praise William’s generosity. Really??
The Prince of Wales surprised staff when he stopped by for a traditional pub lunch and even left a £75 tip at an inn in Wiltshire. Prince William was visiting the town of Mere for official Duchy of Cornwall business when he and several associates called in to The Walnut Tree Inn.
He left staff stunned on Thursday after they realised that a booking for nine people made a week in advance was in fact for royalty. His three security guards sat at one table while William and five others had a working lunch at a separate table.
After he had consumed a homemade burger and fries costing £18.95, bar staff asked the heir to the throne for a quick photo. The future monarch happily obliged and posed with staff member Lisa James and regulars, Nick Lowe and Gary Fermor. He was wearing a smart grey jumper, blue jeans and a pair of green wellies, having just visited a nearby Duchy estate. The royal group were at the pub for 90 minutes.
According to staff, William’s security team paid the tab as well as the generous £75 tip.
William Friend-James, the owner of the Walnut Tree Inn, said: ‘We took a booking about a week ago for nine people on two separate tables but didn’t know who it was. So everyone was a bit shocked when the Prince of Wales walked in. I didn’t recognise who he was with but they were from the Duchy and there were six of them at one table having a meeting over lunch. Wiliam had our homemade burger and fries and a lemonade. Others in his party had the homemade pie and someone had the sea bass. Somebody asked for a photo and his security guards said no but then he walked to the loos by himself and Lisa asked him if he minded having a photo and he said yes. It was a great pleasure to host him.’
A nine-top spread across two tables, enjoying pints, sea bass, desserts and burgers for 90 minutes? The bill was probably well in excess of £300 by my calculations. If that’s the case, then William’s security did tip over or around 20%, so good for them, I guess. It could be that William’s bodyguards are the generous ones, not William. It could be that William thinks this is how he needs to “give back” to communities, as opposed to paying living wages and not profiting off vital services and trapping people in his duchy-slums.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales at the Dog and Duck pub in Soho ahead of this weekend’s coronation. Pictured: Prince William drinks a pint of cider as he chats to local business people inside the Dog and Duck pub.,Image: 773852202, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William cuts celery as he helps to make a bolognase sauce during a visit to Surplus to Supper, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Prince visited Surplus to Supper, a surplus food redistribution charity, to learn about its work bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty across Surrey and West London. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 865900566, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- 15/10/2025. RAF Benson, UK. The Prince of Wales and The Crown Prince of Jordan, Al Hussein bin Abdullah II during a visit to RAF Benson. Their Royal Highnesses received an overview of the work at RAF Benson and then went to No. 28 (AC) Sqn and met trainee aircrew and staff from No. 28 (AC) Sqn and No. 22 Sqn. The Prince and Crown Prince also went to the No. 28 (AC) Sqn hangar to meet helicopter technicians and view aircraft. The visit marks the strong relationship between The Prince of Wales and The Crown Prince of Jordan and their mutual respect and support for the Armed Forces.,Image: 1046133503, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no, Credit line: Pete Maclaine/Avalon
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- William Prince of Wales attends a comedy workshop , run by Welsh comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean who is co-founder of a comedy school in North Wales called Gwneud, The school was created to open doors for people across the region, in order to allow them to develop their comedic talents and open up more arts opportunities for young people particularly those living in isolated rural locations and those from low-income backgrounds.,Image: 1054575815, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales visits the Hala Koszyki food hall to meet young Ukrainian refugees who are now living and studying in Poland, and members of the Polish community hosting them, during his trip to Warsaw, Poland. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Warsaw, Poland When: 23 Mar 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales and Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney share a drink during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales pours a pint with Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales meeting Aston Villa supporters in a Wetherspoons pub in the centre of Birmingham ahead of an away match at Everton. The Prince spent more than 30 minutes with the season ticket Villa fans, before they headed to the match, after attending the the College of Paramedics inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 15 Jan 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales meeting Aston Villa supporters in a Wetherspoons pub in the centre of Birmingham ahead of an away match at Everton. The Prince spent more than 30 minutes with the season ticket Villa fans, before they headed to the match, after attending the the College of Paramedics inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 15 Jan 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
“William’s “team” paid. They left a £75 tip and the British papers are falling over themselves to praise William’s generosity.”
Of course they did. They clap when he has a proper poo at his big age. The bar is in Hell for that man.
If his security team paid, it was probably a business expense—in other words, it came from tax payer dollars supporting the monarchy.
LOL 😂😂 the Brits make £75 sound like a Trillion 🤣🤣🤣
“Official Duchy of Cornwall business” . Billy is such a big boy business guy.
To this I say BIG F**KING DEAL!! His people left a tip. This is supposed to make the taxpayers happy and forget his taking 150 acres of Windsor Park and having yet another forever home and that he is a slumlord and has said during tough times for people they can only give a smile and a handshake. They are asking a lot of the 75 dollar tip.
I dined out in Europe this week, three people, the bill was about €200 and the tip was €40. Americans are not the only ones who tip, but tip only culture with no wage, just tips, seems to be predominantly American. Here we have minimum wage legislation.
I think your estimate for nine people is really low, sea bass on a menu is a minimum if €30 to €40…I imagine the bill was much higher.
The seabass was 24 pounds (I just looked it up, lol. the menu actually looks good overall but trust William to get a hamburger.)
Absolutely. My guess would be closer to 5-600 if even that covers it tbh.
Could be much higher depending on the restaurant and what they had, with entre and coffe desserts and drinks it could really add up.
Eating out in Europe is quite expensive.
this place isn’t that expensive overall. I doubt it was 5-600.
https://walnut-tree-inn.co.uk/eat/
I can’t believe I’m defending big boy Wills, but it’s not that low an estimate, actually. Wiliam had the 18,95 burger “and fries and a lemonade. Others in his party had the homemade pie and someone had the sea bass”- you can look up the Walnut Tree Inn online. The seabass is £23.95 and the pies £21.95. Nowhere does it say in the article that the nine people were “enjoying pints” and “desserts”. They probably didn’t, at lunchtime. So by my calculations, if 4 people had burgers, 4 had pies and 1 had seabass, that adds up to c. £188 for the food. Imagine it was another £90 for the drinks? That’s £278. £75 tip on a £278 is considered very generous in the UK.
Yeah, as someone who spent years working in the service industry, I tip well too. And?
There on Duchy business, it’s expenses so the Duchy will pay for his dinner, including the tip.
That seems like a nice tip but hard to know without knowing the final bill. But either way, it wasn’t William, it was the duchy paying. wonder how many of those lunches and dinners there are that the duchy covers.
“Europeans don’t get it, and they don’t like to tip.”
Err, no, it’s because service is already included. It’s weird how Americans have trouble grasping that this is the actual difference, not “they don’t like to tip”.
It’s just about giving something extra when the service was extra good. But even if the service was mediocre, servers still worked and they still get paid because it’s actually already included in the meal. Judging it to American standards is just weird
Thanks for this. Service is indeed included and tipping is not expected unless you had a really good experience- and even then, 10% is considered very generous. 20-30% tipping is over the top and even considered offensive in my (European) country, actually.
Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone tip 75€ for a 300€ meal. It’s just not done. Servers are already getting paid out of those 300€ (or £)
I know in the UK The service charge is automatically added which is anywhere from 10-15% of the total bill and that is what they call the tip. But you can have it removed from the bill. So did he tip ON TOP of the service charge or did he have the service charge waived and the tip $75?? I have questions. If he tipped on top of the charge I can see why the royalists want to make a big deal out of it because even it sounds cheap to us tipping isn’t the standard in the UK.
Hi, I remembered reading this article and the Daily Mail actually amended the tip amount per the note at the end of the article to be corrected that the tip is $25. In the article it says: According to staff, the group’s bill came to £250 and they left a 10 per cent tip of £25.
oh so thats a bit different then lol.
That’s pretty miserly then.
When you’re calculating a tip, I think you should also consider how much time you spent at your table. This group spent 90 minutes at the pub — a pretty lengthy stretch of time to occupy a table.