SconeGate
I have never previously been required to have a view on scones
I have been watching this family for a very long time. I have never previously been required to have a view on scones. That era, it appears, is over.
For those who have not been following the great controversy of late May 2026, a brief summary. The Prince of Wales appeared on Heart FM last Friday and was asked, as one apparently is now, about his preferred method of assembling a scone. Cream first, he said, then jam. He added that this was how his grandmother had done it. One appreciated the filial loyalty. One also noted that invoking the late Queen in defence of a condiment application preference is, by any measure, a new frontier.
The following morning, the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle brand posted a scone tutorial on Instagram. Cream first. Jam on top. Flower sprinkles. All items, I am told, available for purchase.
I will leave the timing to speak for itself, as it seems more than capable of doing so.
On the matter of the scones themselves: I am a jam first man. I recognise this places me in the Cornish camp, which is not a sentence I ever expected to write, and I accept the consequences. The cream-first position has its merits and its adherents, including, it now emerges, both the future King and the Duchess of Sussex, which is the most unexpected common ground this family has located in some years. I am not sure either of them would welcome the comparison. I offer it anyway.
What strikes me about SconeGate, as the press has taken to calling it, is not the scones. It is never the scones. It is the peculiar gravitational pull that this institution continues to exert on everyone who has ever been near it, whether they are in line for the throne or running a small-batch jam concern in California.
In the meantime, I shall be having mine with jam first. It is, I maintain, the correct order. The cream settles more agreeably. The jam does not slide.
I am aware this is not the most consequential position I have ever taken. It is, however, one I hold with some conviction. I welcome your thoughts in the comments.
You (accompanied by commenters, observers, readers) are entering uncharted waters in the press & social media coverage of media wars the Sussexes are waging against Harry's family & former institution. It's like death by a thousand trivial but vastly annoying cuts. Do you remember the War of the Wales, prior to the extensive media ecosystem powered by the internet today? I can't begin to imagine how many trees were cut down to be pulped for coverage of the War of the Wales -- i'm sure it triggered quite few degrees more of global warming all on its own.
The same today -- but there are two major distinctions, that is this is a one-sided war, the frontal assaults, the flanking maneuver, the envelopment, penetration & most importantly ambushes! (on Harry's father) are waged by the Sussexes alone. That doesn't dim the coverage at all, when there is no direct action to cover, speculations, opinions, rehashes of old news -- all keep the presses rolling. The other distinction is the coverage of the War of the Wales is greatly, hugely magnified today with the advent of extensive, influential, active media sites on the internet including social media.
The various legacy media are delighted, formal web news sites, magazines, newspapers, wire services. Indirectly, spin-off professions that benefit from extensive press coverage include PR specialists, photojournalists, multimedia journalists, digital asset managers & media analysts. These roles exist to capture, distribute, measure, & leverage media exposure for individuals, brands, & breaking news.
That vast ecosystem of social media i mentioned above is humming too. Cottage industries have sprung up, many surprisingly very lucrative to the content creators. Monetized platforms like Youtube, Substack, Facebook, TikTok are humming & thrumming with Sussex v their most vocal, powerful & respected relatives & in-laws, King Charles & Prince William. There are also the Sussexes pathetic attempts to be successful -- continued, serial pivots & rebrands like paper kites in a hurricane that are downed & abandoned before even a small run.
This is a press utopia, a devil's banquet for so many to take advantage of & muscle up to the trough. It's a heyday & none of the independent content creators, MSM & tabloids actually want it to end. Why should they - it's very lucrative. The only sufferers are the public that either endure the onslaught &try & work off all sorts of frustrations in commenting to articles or those that delight in all the drama, contention & dissension especially that around British scones LOL. The winners are -- those who simply turn the page & ignore the sensationalism.
The biggest faux pas: her presentation (not your pic) of the scone as a sandwich.(On a scone that looked like Civil War hard tack, no less.) She's got to get rid of the poison sprinkles somewhere.
Like a dinner roll, a scone is not a sandwich. You break it apart in the middle and then into smaller pieces. You put your condiments on the small pieces. Jam or cream first, doesn't matter to me. Heck, I'm the rebel here who uses butter. I'd also use sour cream (Fage only, it's a dense and not sour Greek style cream) instead of clotted mainly because I'm too lazy to go to some boutique grocery to get it. Bonne Maman preserves are the baseline.Next!!!!