• Princess Diana apparently considered Valentine’s Day to be a “silly holiday.”
  • Former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed as much during a recent interview.
  • McGrady also explained that it simply was “not something that the royal family celebrated.”

As couples all over the world prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day next month, one former royal chef has revealed that Princess Diana apparently found the holiday “silly.”

“They didn’t celebrate Valentine’s at all,” Darren McGrady recently said of the British royal family, per Marie Claire. “It was a silly holiday for them, I think. Absolutely not something that the royal family celebrated, even Princess Diana on that one.”

Princess Diana at the premiere of ‘Stepping Out’ in September 1991.

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McGrady went on, adding, “It’s not a proper holiday, and food-wise, it’s not really something you celebrate with a foodie thing.”

Aside from Princess Diana, McGrady also worked as a royal chef for Queen Elizabeth II. When it came to the late monarch and her husband Prince Philip, the chef explained that they also “wouldn’t have gone out or requested a special meal for Valentine’s Day.”

Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II at a polo match in Windsor in May 1987.

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Of course, McGrady is not the only former employee of the family to dismiss Cupid. This time last year, former royal butler Paul Burrell shared a similar sentiment with Marie Claire.

“Do you know what reminds me of Valentine’s Day, is the fact that the royals never acknowledged it,” he said. “It was never a day for the Royal Family, [more of] a day for the people.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton in Tobermory, Scotland on their 14th wedding anniversary.

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Nowadays, however, the generation following Diana’s has clearly embraced the holiday, with both Prince William and Kate Middleton and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sharing loved-up photos on February 14.

“My love, I will eat burgers & fries and fish & chips with you forever,” the Duchess of Sussex wrote on Valentine’s Day in 2025. “Thank you for you.”