Princess Diana ate burgers at McDonald’s and watched 'trash TV' with sons William and Harry to give them 'normal life'
It might be difficult to believe that Princess Diana indulged in American fast food, with a team of top chefs at her disposal at all times at the palace. But a number of her close aides revealed she used to do that to bond with her young children, Princes William and Harry.
In a recent interview with the Mirror, Paul Burrell, Diana's butler, said a Big Mac and French fries largely made up the diet for the Princess of Wales, especially when she was with her sons and was binge-watching trash TV shows. The aide added that the trio would often sneak out of the Kensington palace to hop down to the nearest fast food diner because the young princes would insist so.
"The three of them would nip to McDonald’s for and fries before coming back to watch Blind Date," Burrell said. "All three of them would squat on this massive, stuffed hippopotamus Diana had in her sitting room. "They loved Blind Date and I’d hear them all screaming things like 'Oh don’t pick him!' and 'Lorra, lorra fun.'"
The fast food hopping had almost become a norm for them on Saturdays and was encouraged by Diana as she wanted to give her children as "normal" an upbringing as possible.
Diana and her children's frequent habit of binging on fast food were confirmed by former Royal Family chef Darren McGrady, in an interview with Marie Claire. He recalled one of the instances when the princess had come down to the kitchen to inform him that she and her kids were going to dine out.
"I remember the Princess came into the kitchen one day and said 'cancel lunch for the boys I'm taking them out, we're going to McDonald's,'" McGrady said. "And I said, 'Oh my god your royal highness, I can do that, I can do burgers.' And she said, 'No, it's the toy they want,'" he said Diana said, making an obvious reference to McDonald's Happy Meals, which are popular among kids.
"Yeah, the boys loved McDonald's, and going out to pizza, and having potato skins-sort of the American foods. They were royal princes but had children's palates," he added.