A former royal chef has revealed that he’s ‘glad’ the late Princess Diana is not here to see the feud between her sons, Princes William and Harry.
Darren McGrady, born in Nottinghamshire, watched the brothers grow up over the 11 years he worked at Kensington Palace, fondly reminiscing on how they used to play ‘hide and seek’ in the kitchen and once enjoyed friendly water gun fights with kitchen staff at Christmas.
But in a candid video shared to his YouTube channel, the ex-cook admitted he believes Lady Di – who passed away in 1997 – may have been the one to ‘sort all the mess out’ between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex.
‘I cooked for them as young boys, I held Prince Harry as a baby while Princess Diana was eating cereals in the kitchen at Windsor Castle and watched them grow up, they literally were Blood Brothers,’ he told viewers.
‘But now I don’t know what’s going on, I’m really glad Princess Di’s not here to see it…
‘I think there’s too much water under the bridge now and I think that relationship’s gone sadly.’
The two siblings have been increasingly estranged following the decision by the Duke and his wife Meghan Markle to quit frontline royal duties and move to the US in January 2019.
Harry then published his critical memoir Spare in 2023, in which he described disputes between the brothers – including an allegation of a physical tussle.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady, born in Nottinghamshire, revealed he’s glad Princess Diana is not here to see the feud between Prince William and Prince Harry
When asked whether he believes the brothers will ever be ‘friends again,’ McGrady responded that he does not foresee a reconciliation between them
The chef also remembered a cheeky young Harry trying to trick him into serving pizza for dinner instead of the healthy chicken that was planned.
He recalled: ‘I remember when I was working for Princess Diana, I came back one evening, the Nanny insisted on the boys eating healthy, she wanted them to have roast chicken, vegetables and potatoes.
‘But Harry had written a note, put it on the kitchen table saying “Darren please give William and Harry pizza for dinner tonight instead of the chicken”, signed Jess The Nanny.’
He also recounted how one of his career highlights was sailing on The Royal Yacht Britannia with Queen Elizabeth on board – as they made their way into Miami.
‘There was a huge fleet of ships, boats around us honking horns and jetting water, Royal Marines band on the top deck playing A Life On The Ocean Wave and me in the royal galley making a soufflé for the Queen and her guest, President Reagan, President Ford, and General Schwarzkopf,’ Darren said.
‘My first trip on board was actually the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Landings and that was a real humbling trip.’
Elsewhere the chef claimed King Charles rarely has lunch and often goes without it because he is ‘too busy’.
McGrady watched the brothers grow up over the 11 years he worked at Kensington Palace, saying they used to play ‘hide and seek’ in the kitchen and once had a playful water gun fight with kitchen staff at Christmas
When asked whether he believes the brothers will ever be ‘friends again,’ McGrady responded that he does not foresee a reconciliation between them
The chef also remembered a cheeky young Harry trying to trick him into serving pizza for dinner instead of the healthy chicken dinner that was planned
However when he visits Balmoral Castle and takes a long walk in the hills he will take a packed lunch of sandwiches with him.
It comes after the chef revealed the ‘unfussy’ dishes that Princess Diana would request for William and Harry during their childhood.
According to her former cook, the late mother of Prince William and Prince Harry opted for ‘nursery foods’ and ‘comfort foods’ for her young sons and their favourite meal was one most British families can relate to – Spaghetti Bolognese.
Darren said that although ‘they were royal princes, they still had children’s palettes’ so ‘Spaggy Bol’ was always a hit with the boys.
Food consultant and former MasterChef contestant, Renae Smith, told Hello that Diana’s favoured dishes for herself and her children reflected her ‘unfussy, considered approach to food’.
Darren explained that he would make the dish in the traditional way, adding onion, celery, carrot, beef bouillon cubes and ground beef.
He served the sauce with either spaghetti or rice, and shared a helpful tip for thickening the sauce: adding a small amount of flour.
‘When she [Diana] was entertaining, especially if she had the boys home, William and Harry, I had to change the menu to make it nursery friendly so that the boys would like it – comfort food that they would like, but a dish to two that she would like too,’ the cook revealed.
The chef also explained that he cooked sole florentine for Diana, however he revealed the Princess once changed the menu completely when a friend joined her for lunch, opting for Darren’s tomato mousse followed by lobster thermidor with a pear flan for dessert.