Gordon Ramsay Says Princess Diana Was "One of the Most Gracious Members of the Royal Family"

She came into his restaurant in the '90s.

Gordon Ramsay
(Image credit: Bryn Colton/Getty Images)

Gordon Ramsay typically doesn't make headlines for all the nice things he says about people (unless you enjoy being called an "idiot sandwich," which, I mean, to each their own). But when it comes to Princess Diana, the famously—ahem—honest chef doesn't have a bad word to say.

Ramsay is currently starring in a TV show called Gordon, Gino and Fred Go Greek! where he and two fellow foodies hang out in Greece and try the local food. According to Delish, Gino D'Acampo asked the others about "the best meal they've ever had or ever cooked" while they watched the sunset in Santorini (ugh, TFTI, guys).

Ramsay answered, "Man, I think cooking for Lady Di once." Implying that in the same way that Santorini is the best Greek island, Diana was the loveliest royal, he added, "I mean, here is renowned as the supermodel of the islets—Santorini—and she, by far, was one the most gracious members of the royal family I’ve ever met."

Although Ramsay doesn't exactly seem like a royal family hater (see him below looking chummy with Prince William during a charity race in 2004), he did have a slightly curt interaction with the Queen while receiving his OBE distinction.

Prince William running the sport relief London mile alongside celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

(Image credit: Getty Images/Getty Images)

Stephen Colbert once asked him if it was a "sword situation," to which Ramsay answered, "No, that's when you get knighted. OBE is like under that, so it's a sort of little handshake and then a sort of polite 'f**k off.'" Cue laughter. "She sort of mutters it under her breath," Ramsay then joked. LOL.

As for Diana, Ramsay further described what it was like cooking for her in a 2016 interview with the Daily Mail. "I was very fortunate to cook for her at Aubergine back in the early days," he said, referring to the Chelsea, London restaurant he created in the '90s, which was at the center of some drama when it closed. "When she came in she was so normal. No airs and graces, security outside, she had the lunch menu and didn’t go a la carte. I think it was a pressed leek terrine and her main course was sea bass."

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Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.