**Fritz Schmied became something of a confidant for Winston Churchill over the years.** Ueli Gutknecht private archive

Churchill’s Swiss personal chef

Fritz Schmied, a young chef from rural Fribourg, worked as personal chef to political heavyweight Winston Churchill for a number of years.

Beat Kuhn

Beat Kuhn is Regional Editor at the Bieler Tagblatt and pulls out the occasional exciting news story from the archives.

Website: Bieler Tagblatt

Ried in the canton of Fribourg has connections with some prominent people in world politics: Barack Obama has roots there on his mother’s side, and Winston Churchill had a household employee from the village: Fritz Schmied was initially Churchill’s butler, then cook and finally personal confidant from 1958 until Churchill died in 1965. The Ried chronicler Ueli Gutknecht wrote an account of Fritz Schmied’s life based on his memories of the man for the Freiburger Volkskalender newspaper in 2005. He relates that Fritz Schmied was born in Ried in 1921. His mother died when he was four and he was then brought up by his aunt and her husband who also lived in Ried and had no children of their own.

**The tranquil setting of Ried near Kerzers in the canton of Fribourg. Aerial photo from 1954.** e-pics

Following an apprenticeship as a baker in Täuffelen (canton of Bern) Fritz Schmied went on to train as a chef in the Biel station restaurant. In the early 1950s, he left Switzerland with his partner Ernst Liechti, who was a waiter. Although homosexuality was legalised in Switzerland in 1942, it was still frowned upon by society for a long time thereafter. So, the move may not have been prompted solely by wanderlust or career advancement. Following three years in the south of France and Sweden, the couple settled in London where Fritz initially found employment for five years as sous-chef in a restaurant. He secured the position of butler in the Churchill household in 1958 on the recommendation of his predecessor, who was also Swiss and a close acquaintance of Fritz Schmied.

Winston Churchill preferred to recruit household staff from Switzerland. He had become acquainted with the country during his youth and quickly grew fond of it. His art teacher and paint-colour supplier were also from Switzerland.

**Winston Churchill painting at Bursinel by Lake Geneva, 1946.** Swiss National Museum

Fritz Schmied must have realised that his appointment to Winston Churchill’s staff was something of a career coup. The man who guided the United Kingdom through the Second World War as prime minister and served a second term from 1951 to 1955 was a legend in his own lifetime. He was also a well-known author of political and historical works and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his 4,000-page opus The Second World War.

Churchill’s wife accepted the Nobel Prize on behalf of her husband in 1953. YouTube / British Pathé

After a year working as a butler, Fritz Schmied returned to his original profession when he switched from butler to head chef with three assistants. It wasn’t a cushy job by any means as they had to prepare daily meals for the 22 household employees as well as looking after the Churchills and their guests.

In 1960, Churchill’s chef de cuisine shared the details of his work with the (now defunct) newspaper Berner Tagblatt. He explained that he actually worked in two households. During the week, the ex-prime minister resided in a 26-room house near Hyde Park, London. At weekends Churchill and his wife Clementine regularly went to their country retreat Chartwell to the south-east of the capital, an even bigger residence with almost 50 rooms. Public figures and parliamentary colleagues as well as family members were regular visitors to both houses. All these comings and goings in two households meant there was never a dull moment. In Chartwell, Churchill enjoyed afternoon walks through the park under the watchful eye of a detective and a policeman.

**Winston Churchill at his country residence Chartwell, 1950s.** Britannica/Press Association

“My position brings me into frequent and highly enjoyable personal contact with Sir Winston and Lady Churchill,” said Schmied. Churchill was knighted by the Queen in April 1953. His wife Clementine held the title of Lady as her mother was from the aristocracy.

Every morning at 8.30am, Fritz Schmied would present Lady Churchill with his proposed menus, which she usually accepted without making any major changes: “insofar as Sir Winston was up to four courses, which he insisted on having, although his appetite was no longer what it had been”. Otherwise, however, there was nothing fancy about the French cuisine in the Churchill household. “For example, my employer’s favourite meal was strips of veal.”

One of Churchill’s many memorable quotes was: “My tastes are simple. I am easily satisfied with the best.” And the best is what he seems to have received from Fritz Schmied, not just in terms of his cooking but also on a human level. In any case, the Swiss national from the Seeland region, who spoke fluent English and French, was a trusted confidant of the Churchills. Moreover, his sexual orientation does not seem to have bothered the conservative politician or his wife.

**Fritz Schmied (at the back) often accompanied Winston Churchill on trips.** Ueli Gutknecht private archive

Fritz Schmied visited family and friends in Ried twice a year. He also received visitors in England. He became the envy of many when he accompanied Churchill on cruises on the private yacht of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

After Churchill died on 24 January 1965, Fritz Schmied started his own business in London in the form of a party service. He returned to Switzerland in 1974 to work in a hotel in Port (canton of Bern). However, a growing tumor in his head caused him ever more distress. He spent his last years in a home in Ringgenberg at Lake Brienz. He died in Interlaken hospital in 1981.

This article was taken from the Bieler Tagblatt newspaper, having been published on 20 November 2024 with the title “Vom Kochlehrling in Biel zum Chef de cuisine bei Churchill” (from apprentice cook in Biel to Churchill’s head chef). The culinary preferences of the political heavyweight can also be found in the book ‘Rösti für Winston Churchill’ by Werner Vogt, which was published at the end of November 2024 by Helvetia Verlag.

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