Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African-British

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

, broadcaster, cookery writer and novelist. She was a judge on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's ''

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, where ...

'' for eleven years, before joining ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

'' in March 2017, replacing

Mary Berry Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (''née'' Berry; born 24 March 1935) is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at college. She then move ...

, when the television programme moved to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. She was

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of Queen Margaret University,

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from 2016 to 2024.

Early life

Leith was born on 18 February 1940 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Career

In 1960, Leith moved to London to attend the Cordon Bleu Cookery School and then began a business supplying high-quality business lunches. This grew to become Leith's Good Food, a party and event caterer. In 1969, she opened Leith's, her

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

-starred restaurant in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, eventually selling it in 1995. In 1975, she founded Leith's School of Food and Wine, which trains professional chefs and amateur cooks. The group reached a turnover of £15 million in 1993. She sold it and, in 1995, helped found the Prue Leith College, since renamed Prue Leith Chef's Academy, and Prue Leith Culinary Institute in South Africa. Odd Plate Restaurant was renamed Prue Leith's Restaurant. The first woman appointed to the British Railways Board in 1980, she set about improving its much-criticised catering. The catering division, Travellers Fare, was detached from the hotels business in 1982 with outlets created, including Casey Jones and Upper Crust. Leith left British Rail in September 1985. Concurrently with running her business, Leith became a food columnist for, successively, the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

''. Aside from writing 12 cookery books, including ''Leith's Cookery Bible'', she has written seven novels: ''Leaving Patrick'', ''Sisters'', ''A Lovesome Thing'', ''Choral Society'', ''A Serving of Scandal'', ''The Food of Love: Laura's Story'' and ''The Prodigal Daughter''. These last two form part of the ''Food of Love'' trilogy. Her memoir, ''Relish'', was published in 2013. Her first television appearance was in the 1970s as a presenter of two 13-episode magazine series aimed at women at home, made by

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

. She was a last-minute replacement for

Jack de Manio Giovanni Batista "Jack" de Manio MC and Bar (26 January 1914 – 28 October 1988) was a British journalist, best known as a radio presenter. Life and work He was the son of Jean and Florence de Manio. His father was an Italian aviator, who died ...

, and with no experience and a director who liked everything scripted, including interviews, she disliked the experience. Later, in the 1980s, she was the subject of two television programmes about her life and career: the first episode of

's ''Take Six Cooks'' and the BBC's ''The Best of British'', a series about young entrepreneurs. In 1999, she was one of the Commissioners on Channel 4's Poverty Commission. She returned to television to be a judge on '' The Great British Menu'' for 11 years until 2016 and a judge for '' My Kitchen Rules'', which she left to replace

in ''

''. She has been involved in food in education. When chair of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

she founded and chaired the charity Focus on Food (now part of the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...

) which promotes cooking in the curriculum. She also started, with the charity Training for Life, the Hoxton Apprentice; a not-for-profit restaurant which for ten years trained the most disadvantaged long-term unemployed young people. Until 2015, she was a member of the Food Strand of the grant-giving foundation, Esmée Fairbairne. From 2007 to 2010, she was the Chair of the School Food Trust, the government quango largely responsible for the improvement in school food after

Jamie Oliver Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

's television exposé of the poor state of school dinners. The Trust (now the Children's Food Trust) also set up and runs Let's Get Cooking, an organisation of over 5,000 cooking clubs in state schools, of which she is a patron. She is vice-president of The Sustainable Restaurant Association; a trustee of Baby Taste Journey (an education charity concerned with healthy food for infants); Patron of The Institute for Food, Brain and Behaviour, Sustain's Campaign for Better Hospital Food, and the Prue Leith Chef's Academy in her native South Africa. She has also been active in general education, chairing Ashridge Management College (2002–07); 3E's Enterprises (an education company turning round failing schools and managing academies (1998–2006) and Chairman of Governors at the secondary school Kings College in Guildford (2000–07). She has also been involved in many diverse organisations: she chaired the Restaurateurs Association (1990–94); she was a member of the Investors in People working group; she chaired the

(RSA; 1995–97); and Forum for the Future (2000–03). She was a director of the housing association, Places for People (1999–2003) and a member of the Consumer Debt Working Group that contributed to the Conservative Party's 2006 policy document ''Breakdown Britain'' (2004–05). She has also been one of the voices in favour of

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

, defending her choice, although lately voicing concern over lowering of food standards. While at the RSA, she led the successful campaign to use the empty plinth, now known as the Fourth Plinth, in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

to house changing sculptures or installations by the best contemporary artists. Leith has been a non-executive director of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

;

British Transport Hotels British Transport Hotels (BTH) was the hotels and catering business of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. Origins of the company Britain's private railway companies pioneered the concept of the railway hotel, initially at loca ...

;

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

; Argyll plc, the

Leeds Permanent Building Society The Leeds Permanent Building Society was a building society founded in Leeds, England in 1848 and was commonly known in a shortened form as The Leeds or The Perm. It should not be confused with the extant Leeds Building Society (formerly Leeds ...

; Whitbread plc; Woolworths plc; the Halifax; Triven VCT; Omega International plc; and Belmond Hotels Ltd (formerly Orient Express Hotels) and is a director and investor in several start-up companies. In July 2017, she was installed as the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. In February 2024, Leith's ten-part cookery series ''Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen'' began airing on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

. In September 2024, a second series was commissioned. In 2025, Leith participated in the sixth series of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Pegasus". She was eliminated in the second episode.

Personal life

Leith holds dual South African and British citizenship.

Family

Leith was married to property developer and author Rayne Kruger from 1974 until his death aged 80 in December 2002. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Li-Da Kruger (a Cambodian adoptee), is a filmmaker. Their son, Danny Kruger, was a speechwriter and adviser to

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, and is the Conservative MP for the constituency of

East Wiltshire East Wiltshire is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by the Cons ...

. Similarly to Prue, who said: "I ended up voting for

but I dithered and dithered for ages because there were really good arguments on both sides", Danny Kruger said that he supported the UK leaving the EU. In October 2016, Leith married John Playfair, a retired clothes designer; the couple originally lived apart in separate homes, but have subsequently built a house together in Moreton-in-Marsh,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, where they both live. Her brother, ex-restaurateur James Leith, is married to the biographer Penny Junor.

Campaigning for assisted dying

Leith's other brother, David, who had worked for the RAF and also for Prue Leith's Good Food, died from

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

in 2012, aged 74, in conditions described by her as "absolute agony". After his death, Leith started campaigning for making assisted dying legal in Britain. In 2023, she filmed a documentary for

with her son Danny, who has opposite views on the subject. She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying and, in 2023, spoke in Parliament on the subject.

Other

In May 2020 she expressed support of the breach of virus lockdown by

Dominic Cummings Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until he resigned on 13 November 2020. From 2007 to 2014, he was a speci ...

and Mary Wakefield, whom her son described as "old friends". In December 2021, she was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''.

Honours

Leith's honours include the Business Woman of the Year in 1990 and thirteen honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities. She was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1989,

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2010 Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sai ...

and

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to food, broadcasting and charity.

References

External links

*
Prue Leith Chefs Academy and Catering, South AfricaLeiths School of Food and Wine Podcast interview with Prue Leith On the occasion of her being awarded the degree of Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick in January 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leith, Prue 1940 births Living people Alumni of St Mary's School, Waverley British company founders British food writers British Rail people British television presenters British women company founders British women television presenters Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Greater London Kruger family Restaurant founders South African chefs South African cookbook writers South African educators South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African women company founders South African women educators South African women television presenters Women chefs