Princess Diana's Former Chef Reflects on the Day She Died and What He Had "Waiting" for Her

Princess Diana wears a white lace bateau neck dress with the Spencer Tiara

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 29 August 2025

As a palace chef for 15 years, Darren McGrady got a behind-the-scenes look at the Royal Family and their likes, dislikes and funny quirks. While he started his career at Buckingham Palace, McGrady spent the last four years of his royal service working as a chef for Princess Diana. Sunday, August 31 marks the 28th anniversary of the late royal's death, and McGrady has previously revealed a heartbreaking detail about that tragic day in 1997.

In a 2020 interview with Australian radio station KIIS 106.5 FM (via the Daily Mail), the chef shared what it was like learning his boss had died in a car crash. "I was there, I had the food for dinner waiting for her to return," he said. "It was a horrible, horrible time."

McGrady, who now runs a private catering company in Dallas, has also mentioned the meal Diana never got to eat on social media. In 2016, he shared a post on X writing, "19 years ago today I had dinner prepared for a special lady and her boys. She didn’t come home. #RIPPrincessDiana."

Darren McGrady wearing a chef coat and folding his arms in front of a table of food — Darren McGrady worked as a royal chef from 1982 until Princess Diana's death in 1997.

Princess Diana wearing a white shirt and jeans in Bosnia — Princess Diana visited Bosnia just weeks before she died.

Along with reflecting on her passing, McGrady has also opened up about Princess Diana's relatable restaurant moments with Prince Harry and Prince William. Speaking on behalf of Heart Bingo, McGrady recalled a day when Diana said, "Cancel lunch today. I'm taking them out."

"I asked, 'Where are you going?' and she said, 'McDonald's,'" McGrady shared. Even though he pointed out, "I can do burgers better than McDonald's," Diana could not be convinced otherwise. "She said, 'I know that Darren, but they want the toys in the Happy Meal.'"

As for parenting, McGrady told Hello! that Diana "wasn't strict at all," adding the late royal "let them be boys, young boys!" However, the princess butted heads with William and Harry's nanny when it came to eating habits. "There was always a battle between her and Nanny," the former royal chef shared.

"Nanny would say, 'No, they're eating their dinner, they're having cabbage," he said. Princess Diana, on the other hand, was more lenient. McGrady revealed that Diana "would say, 'No, if they're with me and they want loaded potato skins and fried chicken then they can have that. And if they don't eat it and they still want pudding, they can have that too!"

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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.