Princess Diana was a consciously healthy eater, but liked to “spoil” her sons Prince William and Prince Harry when they returned to her home at Kensington Palace from boarding school.
Royal chef Darren McGrady cooked for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace for 11 years before joining Diana at KP in 1993. He worked for her until her death in 1997.
McGrady shared that there was a surprising food item that the Princess of Wales only ate when her sons were around—beef.
According to Princess Diana’s former chef, the Princess of Wales only brought one food on the menu if her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were there with her at her home at Kensington Palace.
Darren McGrady worked for the royal family beginning in the 1980s, and worked exclusively for Diana from 1993 until her death in 1997. Diana was strict with her diet, he told Hello!, saying that the royal “was into healthy eating, so we never had beef on the menu unless the boys were home.”
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Princess Diana, Prince Harry, and Prince William
“She never ate pork,” he added. “Occasionally, she’d have lamb when she was entertaining guests, but for the most part it was chicken, fish, or vegetarian options.”
By the time McGrady went to work for Diana at KP, she was already separated from Prince Charles; they’d ultimately finalize their divorce in 1996. Before cooking for Diana beginning in 1993, he’d cooked for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, and “When I was cooking for her [Diana], I had to change my style of cooking,” he said.
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Princess Diana on June 3, 1997
“I had to move from cooking food for the Queen—heavy sauces, rich sauces and creams—to start cooking lighter food again, cutting out the fats, cutting out the carbs,” McGrady recalled. “She would say, ‘You take care of all the fats, and I’ll take care of all the carbs at the gym.’ So dishes like tomato mousse, which she really liked, she’d say, ‘Make me a fat-free version.’”
Though she was particular about what she ate, Diana would “spoil” William and Harry when they returned home to KP from boarding school: “They could have chocolate—there weren’t special treats because if the boys were home, the princess wanted to spoil them,” McGrady said.
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Princess Diana with her sons Prince Harry and Prince William at an amusement park in 1993
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Princess Diana, Prince Harry, and Prince William in September 1995
“They liked comfort food dishes,” he added. “They loved banana flan, anything with banana really, banana ice cream. They loved things like mixed grills, burgers, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken and cream chicken sauce.”
He continued of William and Harry, “They were royal children, but they still had children’s palates.”
Read the original article on InStyle