Peacock was a favorite dish of Henry VIII, and in ancient Rome, it was decided to limit personal expenditures for "feasts", including weddings, and a single peacock would soak up ~20% of the "legal" limit.
And yes, they had the then-equivalent of BHO enforcers harassing and fining people. There are absurd stories of the kitchen help temporarily moving the excess food out windows when unbribable feast police types would crash a party.
I hope your antecedent enjoyed it, because it's somewhat difficult not to overcook and dry out on the first attempt.
Like in an old computer company, where they at the end of the fiscal year used to move all unfinished machines out on the shipping ramp and mark it as “shipped” in inventory, to inflate results.