Princess Diana Enjoyed a Rather Bizarre Snack Her Royal Chef Kept On Hand

It's not what you'd normally pick for a midnight snack.

Princess Diana wearing a white lace gown sitting at a banquet table between two soldiers in red uniforms
(Image credit: Getty Images)

While most people raid their fridge at midnight for a slice of leftover pizza, Princess Diana's cravings were catered to with a bit more...royal flair. In a recent interview with the Sun, former palace chef Mervyn Wycherley revealed that Diana had her own special stash in the kitchen, and what the late Princess of Wales reached for might surprise you.

The chef, along with Diana's former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, chatted about their memories on the Sun's "Royal Exclusive" show, with Wharfe recalling, "I remember the princess would very often come in and sit in the kitchen with you."

Noting the atmosphere was "quite informal," he continued that Diana would eat while sitting "astride the chest freeze or whatever." Wycherley agreed that Diana "spent a lot of time in the kitchen," and that he would cook up some of her favorite foods for those times when he wasn't around.

“I always had in the kitchen, there was a small fridge, and I used to leave things in the fridge that she liked, cold lamb cutlets and things like that. So she could just snack whenever she wanted to," the palace chef shared.

Princess Diana wearing a black polka dot dress and pointing as Prince William eats a snack and laughs at a picnic table

Princess Diana is seen enjoying a snack with Prince Wiliam and Prince Harry in 1991.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While "cold lamb cutlets" might not seem like the most appealing of late-night snacks, it seems Prince William developed a penchant for burgers (to his father's dismay).

"As William got older, of course, he was very keen to go to burger bars and pizza places, but that didn't really sit that comfortably with his father," Wharfe shared. The former protection officer remembered "coming back from the pizza place and the burger in Kensington High Street" with Prince William, who told Prince Charles, "‘Oh papa we just had these amazing burgers!'"

“And there was this sort of look of disdain with him across the prince's face," Wharfe shared, adding that Charles said, "'I don't know why you eat that food when I have this marvelous army of chefs at Kensington Palace."

Perhaps he wasn't a cold lamb cutlet kind of guy.

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Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

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