Do you believe you’ve mastered the art of consuming asparagus? Well, think again. Annie Sulzberger, lead researcher on The Crown, has unveiled an intriguing revelation that your technique for eating asparagus can actually unveil your social standing.

In an interview with History Extra magazine, Sulzberger, aged 40, divulged a surprising discovery she made while working on the hit Netflix series. Apparently, Major David Rankin-Hunt, an etiquette consultant on set, disclosed a game-changing nugget about asparagus-eating customs. According to him, “upper-class individuals don’t partake of asparagus with cutlery – they use their digits”. Astounding, isn’t it?

Even Hollywood heartthrob Dominic West, portraying Prince Charles, had to redo a scene after being caught violating the asparagus-eating regulations. Sulzberger reminisced, “Our extraordinary etiquette consultant, David Rankin Hunt, intervened and declared, ‘Aristocrats don’t consume asparagus with knives and forks – they use their fingers’. They redid the scene with Dom picking up the asparagus with his fingers.”

And if you assumed that was the only juicy tidbit, think again. Actor portraying the late Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Jonathan Pryce, disclosed the trials of embodying the role. Turns out, the delectable cream teas on set were wreaking havoc on the cast’s waistlines. Sir Jonathan, aged 76, confessed to enduring a gruelling fast before filming The Crown, subsisting on black coffee, vegetable broth, and fruit juice. He even endured a two-week stay at a clinic in Germany in order to slim down for the role.

Upon emerging from his fasting ordeal, Sir Jonathan was greeted with the “most delightful apple he’d ever tasted” – a well-deserved treat after his extreme dietary regimen. He admitted, “I underwent a rigorous dieting regimen before we commenced filming. I spent two weeks at a clinic in Germany, which seemed fitting, and fasted. He’s much thinner than I am and the costume department is, honestly, unsettled, as they had tailored all these exquisite suits for my pre-clinic size.”

And there you have it. Who could have guessed that the proper way to consume asparagus and resisting temptations of cream teas would hold such significance in the spheres of British royalty and entertainment? The next time you indulge in a spear of asparagus, remember – your pinky finger might be more revealing than you realise.