It's been 20 years since Princess Diana's passing and lately, the people closest to her have been sharing some of their fondest memories of her.
Though she was loved by so many all over the world, very few people truly got a glimpse of what it was like for Princess Di. Her personal chef, Darren McGrady, shared some of Diana's favorite meals in his book The Royal Chef at Home. He worked for the royal family from 1993 until the princess' death in 1997.
Darren told USA Today about his start at Bukingham Palace: "[I] was right at the very bottom—chef No. 20 of 20. I worked on the vegetable section cooking for palace staff. It was horrible. Frozen vegetables for 300."
He met Diana when he traveled to the Queen's summer home in Scotland: "Over time, I became a friendly, familiar face to her, although I was never her friend. I was staff. I never called her Diana. It was 'Your Royal Highness' to the end, even after she lost the title and would say, 'You don't have to call me that.'"
After Diana's divorce from Prince Charles, she asked that Darren be her personal chef at Kensington Palace. It was also around that time that Diana got over her eating disorder and developed a healthier relationship with food.
Darren dished, "One time she said: 'Make me the tomato mousse you made for President Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle,' and I said, 'You can't have that Your Royal Highness. It's got mayonnaise, sour cream, it's got double cream.' She said, 'Well, make me a fat-free version.'"
On a normal day, Diana ate healthily, but when Prince William and Prince Harry were around, she indulged a little. So she can have the same food as her children, Darren explained, "I would take the fat off her chicken, and with the potatoes, I would dip them in egg white and paprika and put them to one end of the dish and she would know they were for her. She wanted to eat healthy. She looked the best she ever did. She never ate red meat. She loved fish, stuffed bell peppers."
Source: Travel + Leisure
This story originally appeared on Cosmo.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.
