Princess Diana Requested This Meal Multiple Times A Week
The late Princess Diana was highly misunderstood in many ways, one of which, according to her personal chef, Darren McGrady, involved her relationship with food. The beloved princess's struggle with an eating disorder was well documented, and her willingness to talk about it certainly helped erase the stigma surrounding it, but he emphasized that she ate and ate well.
The people's princess was incredibly health-conscious and made a thoughtful diet and workout regimen part of her lifestyle. In a video where he cooks up one of her favorite dishes for Delish, McGrady revealed that Princess Diana loved clean eating, opting for healthy dishes over those with heavy cream and lots of fat.
According to the chef, she also didn't eat beef and rarely ate lamb. He said the princess requested one particular meal several times a week and that he would happily prepare it for her. Sometimes, those on her staff would also opt in, and other times, he would have to prepare something else while serving up Princess Diana's favorite: stuffed bell peppers. The chef revealed that while cooking for the royal family often involved elaborate dishes and plenty of preparation, cooking for Princess Diana was much more relaxed and often required him to be more spontaneous, as she didn't always stick to the planned menu.
Princess Diana ate stuffed bell peppers often
Even with all of the different orders, it sounds like working for Princess Diana was rewarding; McGrady recalled her watching him cook and sometimes even make coffee for both of them while she waited for her food. The unpretentious royal always took her coffee black.
McGrady has often spoken about Princess Diana and her delicious stuffed bell peppers and revealed how things worked in the royal kitchen. He shared that while the princess often asked for bell peppers, her staff sometimes ate the same thing, but not always. Her sons, William and Harry, had the palate of a child and preferred fattier, richer tasting food, which he gladly prepared to their delight.
The way Princess Diana's stuffed bell peppers were prepared differs a bit from the most common recipes, as they didn't contain meat. Instead, Chef McGrady says he filled her peppers with zucchini, mushrooms, rice, mozzarella, and parmesan. Then, he would mix in a smoked tomato pepper sauce. It's worth noting that, as he was preparing the dish and talking about it, McGrady used red bell peppers, the sweetest of them all.
Other foods Princess Diana loved
While Princess Diana loved her stuffed bell peppers, there were several other things she also enjoyed eating, and McGrady prepared for her often. He said she started juicing before it was even a thing and often enjoyed healthy juices.
Other foods the late princess loved included stuffed eggplant, liver and onions, or roasted chicken and potatoes. She also enjoyed bread and butter pudding, different kinds of fish, and lamb.
Princess Diana often chose vegetarian options and made sure all her meals were low in fat and high in nutrients, as she was very careful about what kinds of food she put in her body. She did enjoy a treat from time to time, though. McGrady once told Bustle that Princess Diana would occasionally indulge with a Cadbury Twirl Bar, and former royal chef Mervyn Wycherley told The U.S. Sun that she kept cold lamb cutlets in her personal fridge in case she wanted a snack.