Kristen Stewart’s Biggest Takeaway from ‘Spencer’: Brits Are All “Obsessed” With KFC

Kristen Stewart has been earning rave reviews for her portrayal of Princess Diana in the biopic Spencer. The actress learned a lot about the storied royal while filming the movie, but she also learned a lot about British people in general. Her main takeaway? Brits are obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In a recent interview with The Daily Mirror, Stewart reflected on one of Spencer’s final scenes, which shows Diana leaving Sandringham and taking William and Harry to a British branch of KFC. “If you’ve spent any time in the UK, they are obsessed with that shit,” said Stewart. “I think more so than here they have a thing about KFC. I have a few [British] friends who have the resounding sound of, We need to go for a Zinger Burger.”

The finger lickin’ scene has made such an impact, that the real-life KFC released their own version of Diana’s iconic black sheep jumper—a black chicken jumper, aptly dubbed “The Spencer.” The poultry-patterned sweater was available to the first 100 people who visited KFC’s Leicester Square location and ordered a bargain bucket. 

“I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard about it,” said Stewart when asked about the jumper. “That’s really funny to me.”

All jokes aside, this now-infamous ending of Spencer is very much based in truth. When Marie Claire spoke with former royal chef Darren McGrady back in 2017, he revealed that Harry and William really loved fast food. “I remember the Princess came into the kitchen one day and said, ‘Cancel lunch for the boys I’m taking them out, we’re going to McDonald’s,” said McGrady. “The boys loved McDonald’s, and going out to pizza, and having potato skins—sort of the American foods. They were royal princes but had children’s palates.”

Former royal butler Paul Burrell corroborated this story in The Mirror, saying, “The three of them would nip to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and fries before coming back to watch Blind Date.”

While the image of Diana trying to give her sons a taste of normal life (and 11 herbs and spices) in Spencer definitely follows the stories of McGrady and Burrell, we’re not exactly sure why director Pablo Larrain chose to switch the venue from McDonald’s to KFC.

But we like to imagine it had something to do with an October 2020 image of Prince William gazing into the window of a KFC. The picture went viral after the chicken chain tweeted the photo along with the words, “His Royal Thighness.” 

The British royals + KFC = the weirdest, punniest match ever made in heaven.