Princess Diana’s Low-Carb Diet Was Trendy Before Trendy Diets Became A Thing

Princess Diana was such a treasure. Not only was she a wonderful mother to Prince Harry and Prince William, but she happened to know a thing or two about food that the rest of the world caught onto years later.

Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady revealed a little bit about Princess Diana’s diet and food preferences for his book, Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen. McGrady worked closely with Princess Diana for 11 years. As you know, you can really get to know someone based on what they eat.

McGrady spoke to The Daily Mail in 2016 and said that in her quest to be healthier, she tried to generally stay away from carbs and red meat. She often ate vegetarian dishes when she was dining alone. But we doubt she’d consider herself a vegetarian. She didn’t adhere to a strict vegetarian diet — especially while entertaining guests.

Even while limiting carbs, she allowed herself some potatoes every once in awhile. “She’d tell me: ‘You take care of the fats, I’ll take care of the carbs at the gym,’” McGrady said, according to the site.

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It’s interesting that Princess Diana knew it’d be best for her health to limit carbs, much like the popular keto diet today. She tried to have a healthy relationship with food, so she wasn’t intense with her limits. McGrady said that one of her favorite meals was stuffed peppers, which typically include ground beef.

Princess Diana (allegedly) didn’t always have the best relationship with food.

It was exclusively reported by Hello! Magazine that the late Princess struggled with an eating disorder. McGrady has gone on record to say that she asked for a strange combination of food, the nature of which seemed suspicious to the chef. He told Hello!, “I was there as a chef, my job was to cook and to prepare food. I wasn’t a psychologist, or a doctor, who could say you shouldn’t be eating all of this. I knew something wasn’t right but I didn’t know or understand what bulimia was.”

However, according to Hello!, Diana was open about her struggles, and eventually overcame them. “By the time I moved to Kensington Palace, the Princess had already confronted the bulimia and talked about it in the hope that other people would do. She got her life back on track. She was working out at the gym every day, looking the best she ever did. She had changed, she was now a healthy eater,” McGrady said.

Princess Diana didn’t allow her eating disorder to define her, and that is brave. The fact that she confronted it and eventually found a dietary path that worked for her is worthy of applause. She discovered a diet plan that was healthy (for her) and made her happy — and that’s what’s important. All of us have a different relationship with food, and ultimately, it’s up to you (and your doctor) to figure out what is best for you.