Princess Diana’s former chef, Darren McGrady, often shares his favorite stories from the Kensington Palace kitchen on his YouTube channel, including recipes for some of Diana’s most-loved dishes. But in a special tribute video he made for the late royal’s birthday, McGrady shared one hilarious story about a time Princess Diana took the cooking into her own hands.
Explaining that he worked for Diana “Monday through Friday,” McGrady said he’d “leave food in the refrigerator for her” on weekends. The chef admitted that the princess “wasn’t a good cook” and he would include stickers on the pre-made meals with a number indicating which setting on the microwave to press.
Apparently, Princess Diana’s lack of culinary skills even extended to pasta. “One time, it was one Sunday, she had a friend come over and they decided to cook pasta and some spaghetti sauce,” McGrady shared. The duo “got chatting” and before they knew it, “the pasta boiled over, and it put the pilot lights out on the gas.”
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Princess Diana enjoys cake during a 1991 trip to Canada.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The former palace chef shared that Diana “could smell gas” when she went back into the kitchen later, and was worried enough that she decided to call Kensington Palace’s fire brigade. Although it ended up being nothing, the princess couldn’t wait to tell McGrady about her kitchen mishaps.
On Monday morning, “she came running into the kitchen,” exclaiming, “Darren, you won’t believe it. I cooked at the weekend, but I nearly set the whole palace on fire!”
McGrady continued that Diana got a kick out of the whole experience in the end. “She said, ‘I was so nervous I called the fire palace brigade and they all came over, but the best part was, I had 12 hunky firemen all to myself!’”
Darren McGrady shares royal recipes and insights on his YouTube channel.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
When she wasn’t putting out the pilot lights, McGrady shared that Diana loved to eat lunch in the kitchen and hang out with the staff.
He explained that if the princess was on her own, she’d eat her lunch and “just chat while I was sort of preparing food for dinner that night”—and her conversational topics ranged from “soap operas” to royal gossip.
“Other times she’d say, Darren you wont believe what The Queen told me!” he said, exclaiming “Woah!” with a laugh and covering his ears.