When you think of the royals and food, State Banquets and formal dinners are probably the first things that come to mind. But if there’s anything we’ve learnt from the Royal Family’s favourite foods, it’s that they’re a lot more down-to-earth than you might think at first.
Take Princess Diana’s favourite breakfast, for example. Her former royal chef, Darren McGrady, has suggested that her go-to breakfast was a simple and quick meal and one that was also massively ahead of its time and has now become a healthy staple in many people’s diets.
Forget poached eggs or show-stopping pancakes, he shared, “Her go-to breakfast was something called overnight oats.”
Speaking in a recent video on his YouTube channel, Darren explained that while today we know and love overnight oats for being both a healthy no-cook meal you can easily whip up and one of the best foods to eat in the morning, the late Princess of Wales was ahead of her time by enjoying them for breakfast.
“Now, today, overnight oats are really popular. Everybody’s eating them. But they date back to 2012. That’s when you couldn’t even go on social media without seeing a recipe for overnight oats,” he explained. “But Princess Diana was eating overnight oats almost 20 years earlier, in 1993.”
According to the former royal chef, she picked up a love for this breakfast after visiting a wellness retreat in Sweden. After this, Darren supposedly made them for her often after she came back home to the UK.
(Image credit: Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
What gives the oats their name is the same thing that makes them a super quick and easy morning meal. All the preparation is done the evening before, Darren shared, by adding even amounts of rolled oats and freshly squeezed orange juice to a bowl and allowing the mixture to blend in the fridge overnight.
Then, the next morning, you simply have to add some flavouring and topping to your mix before enjoying a fresh and filling breakfast. Princess Diana’s favourite toppings reportedly included fresh blueberries, toasted walnuts, or a honey crisp apple, which the former royal chef would grate on top of the oats.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
However, Darren explained that he personally likes to add some Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey before going in with a splash of lemon juice and some berries and seeds as a garnish.
“I like to use raw honey, and I’d say with the raw honey, just do that to your taste. If you like it really, really sweet, then obviously put a little bit more in, but not too much,” he declared.
