Prince Harry Once Schooled Royal Chef Darren McGrady On Crispy Bacon
With access to accomplished chefs, the British royals have some distinct opinions about food. Take King Charles, for example. Not only does he have a bizarre plum breakfast ritual that requires an exact amount of plums and plum juice, but he takes his toast with exactly three spheres of cold butter.
While some may waste bananas once they get brown spots, Princess Anne reportedly loves eating overripe bananas "because they digest easier," per Gloucestershire Live. And one type of salt was so beloved it was even designated with a royal warrant by Queen Elizabeth. Apparently, this is because the royals favored Maldon Sea Salt for five years in a row.
Who made all these specific requests possible? One key contributor to the monarchy's meals was former royal chef Darren McGrady. His impressive résumé includes working as the personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, and Princes William and Harry (via The Royal Chef).
Before working for the monarchy, he attended culinary school in the U.K. and worked for The Savoy Hotel in London, according to Voyage Dallas. And while he spent 15 years making the royals' favorite dishes, there was a time when even McGrady had to be taught a thing or two.
Prince Harry's method for crispy bacon includes a microwave and paper towels
Although Prince Harry grew up in the U.K., he's no stranger to American foods. According to Express, his favorite snack is an In-N-Out burger, which he enjoys in his now-home state of California. But his love for burgers is nothing new. When they were growing up, Princess Diana would take Harry and William to McDonald's, as they loved the Happy Meal toys in addition to the burgers. And after Prince Harry visited Disney World when he was eight years old, he returned to the U.K. with a strong opinion on how to cook bacon.
According to Food & Wine, Darren McGrady was used to broiling it, but young Prince Harry insisted that the bacon he had tried at Disney World was microwaved in paper towels for a minute afterward, giving it a crispier texture (via Yahoo!). As you may expect from a professionally trained chef, McGrady was initially resistant to the correction. "I thought, 'Yeah, okay, thank you, you little brat, for teaching me how to cook,'" McGrady told Food & Wine. But once he tried it, he realized the prince was right and has made bacon that way ever since.
Bacon wasn't the only food Prince Harry enjoyed on that Disney World trip. Insider shares that he and his brother also helped themselves to Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles — although we can't say the royal chef ever replicated those.