Marc Meltonville is a food historian and author, currently based at Historic Royal Palaces.  

Marc was first commissioned to work for Hampton Court in 1991, for the reconstruction of the Tudor Kitchens, and then for the first attempt at using that space for experimental work. 

In 2003 Marc took over the project co-ordination of the Historic Kitchens of Hampton Court Palace and in 2006 an experiment to look at the three centuries of occupation of the Royal kitchens began under Marc’s direction.  Years of research have gone into the new kitchens at the palace and now they are being used to cook Tudor Court food once more.  In 2014 Marc worked to open the King's Chocolate Kitchen, a multi-level interpretation project of Hampton Court, open to the public for the first time in almost 300 years.

After originally training in ceramic history, form and construction, Marc went to work in the media, firstly in advertising and then the writing of children’s books, with 20 books in print to date.  Now he appears on TV and radio as a guest expert, as well as researching historical recipes for other shows and consulting to chefs such as Heston Blumenthal.  

Marc’s television and radio appearances include Tales from the Palaces, Heston Blumenthal’s Perfect Christmas, The Great British Bake Off (BBC2), A Tudor Feast for Christmas (BBC & UKTV Food), The Hidden Palace of Henry VIII (History Channel), If Walls Could Talk (BBC4), When Royals Wed (BBC 1), Sunday Brunch (Channel 4), and Secrets of the Manor House: Secrets of Henry VIII's Palace (PBS Network USA).

Marc has sought out historic recipes and cooking methods, travelling all over the world in his research.  He has received high praise and is described as having an “encyclopaedic knowledge of food history” by Chef Heston Blumenthal for the work he did on his book, Historic Heston. 

An engaging speaker, once described as ‘Britain’s only stand-up historian’, Marc is regularly invited to host talks in France, Canada and the USA as well as around the UK.  He is a guest contributor for the hugely popular online course ‘‘A History of Royal Food and Feasting’’ launched in June 2016.