Princess Diana was one of the most famous royals in the world, but she was also a regular person who happened to enjoy an indulgent meal from time to time because we all have to eat.
According to a new Channel 5 documentary on royal shopping habits, the late Princess of Wales was a fan of frozen burgers and McCain chips, often heading out to her local Marks and Spencer’s to pick up some food for herself.
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Diana’s protection officer, Ken Wharfe, shared the food fact with former staff and royal experts, explaining that Diana enjoyed partaking in normal activities like grocery shopping.
“Shopping with Diana was a unique experience,” he said, via The Sun. “Occasionally she would say, ‘Ken I need to go down to Marks and Spencer. To the one in Kensington High Street, to the food hall.’”
“It was bizarre, to see the princess walking down the aisles picking up from the freezer, a bag of McCain chips, or burgers off the shelf,” Wharfe added. “I used to think, ‘Why do you need to do this? Because there must be stacks of it back at Kensington Palace.’ But it was this thing about Diana, being in touch with normality and reality.”
More royal food secrets were recently revealed when Carolyn Robb, who was Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s royal chef, opened up to The Sunday Times about her years with the Royals, including Charles and Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
According to Robb, both boys had a sweet tooth, with the chef recalling one morning when she served Harry tarts for breakfast.
“Harry loved treacle (golden syrup made from cane sugar) tart when he was tiny,” Robb said. “I used to make them the size of a 50p piece for him. One morning, he came into the kitchen before breakfast and asked for one. I said, ‘I think you best check with Mummy.’ So off he went, scampering back a few minutes later with a note Princess Diana had written: ‘Mummy says it’s okay.’ Diana loved those boys, they were her priority.”
As for William, he was a fan of chocolate, with Robb sharing that the father of three “adored chocolate biscuit cake and meringues.”
She also opened up about spending time with Diana in the kitchen, revealing that the late royal “often helped with the washing up.”
“She came into the kitchen, kicked off her shoes, there was lots of laughing and joking, which was so typical of her. You felt instantly at ease,” Robb said. “She was very easy to cook for and loved simple things: cold minted lamb, salads, shuffles, stuffed aubergine. She didn’t really have a sweet tooth.”
Photo Credit: Getty / John Stillwell – PA Images
