Prince William and Prince Harry’s ‘favourite’ childhood meals are surprisingly ‘normal’ and easy to recreate for family dinners

The brother's enjoyed "traditional, English food"

Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry
(Image credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

A former royal chef has revealed what Prince William and Prince Harry’s ‘favourite’ childhood meals were and they're super easy to recreate for family dinners.


It appears that the royals aren't all that different from your average suburban family. As The Firm takes to modernising its approach to royal life, the curtain has been lifted and we've been offered more and more insight into the personal lives and preferences of its members.  

And one huge insight we've been given is into their surprisingly normal dinner habits. From Prince George's 'favourite' meal that makes the perfect week-night family dish, the takeaway the Wales children ‘absolutely love’ and Prince Louis’ favourite food that features in a royal chef's simple 5-step recipe, royal meal times are far from the Michelin Star affairs we all once thought them to be. 

Now a former royal chef has opened up about Prince William and Prince Harry's 'favourite' childhood meals and the 'traditional' food they enjoyed still makes the perfect family dinner today.

Princes William and Harry with Princess Diana

(Image credit: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

Darren McGrady, who was the personal chef to Queen Elizabeth IIPrincess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry for fifteen years, told PEOPLE Magazine, “I remember holding the boys as babies, when the Princess was eating cereal in the kitchen, thinking, ‘Wow, here I am, literally holding the crown jewels'.”

He went on to reveal that the young Princes would enjoy 'traditional, English food' and that their favourites included meals such as cottage pie and peas, poached chicken and rice and fish cakes. “They may be royal children," he said. "But they still have children’s palates.”

He added, "[They had] Everything a normal British child would have. The only difference is that they had a chef cooking it for them.”

Even without a personal chef manning your kitchen, with our easy cottage pie recipe or healthier options like the Hairy Bikers' healthy cottage pie recipe or Slimming World's cottage pie recipe, you can have an easy mid-week dinner fit for a King (or a Prince) ready in no time. 

For the perfect Friday alternative to fish and chips, why not try our lemon and parsley fishcakes recipe or, for the ultimate flavour, our salmon, prawn and dill fish cakes recipe? If you really want to push the boat out and impress, we recommend out 5-star rated sesame Thai fishcakes recipe for a brilliant twist on a family favourite.

Princes William and Harry with Princess Diana

(Image credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

It wasn't just dinner time that the young Princes enjoyed. Just like every other child, desert was what they really craved. 

Darren revealed that their favourite sweet treat was a jam roly-poly, yet another recipe that's easy to recreate with our jam roly-poly with custard recipe. “You don’t get much more quintessentially British comfort food than that,” he added. “Each time, I’d send up six pieces, and each of them would go.” 

But while they enjoyed a home cooked meal, the Prince's equally loved a takeaway though they did have to be sneaky about how to get one. Darren recalled a time when they swapped out their 'nanny’s note' for one requesting pizza as their dinner. 

They didn't get away with it though as their childish handwriting gave the game away. Darren, while tickled by their attempt, said he 'was more scared of the nanny than I was of William' so the pair ended up with roast chicken for their meal at their nanny’s request.

News writer

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.