More than 25 years after Princess Diana’s death, her life remains a subject of public interest, from her fashion style and parenting style to her eating habits. Recently, Darren McGrady, a former chef who served the British Royal Family and worked with Diana for many years, revealed an interesting detail about the “People’s Princess’s” breakfast menu. Surprisingly, her favorite food before exercising wasn’t smoothies, oatmeal, or salad, as many people believe.

According to Darren McGrady, every morning before heading to the Chelsea Harbour Club in London, where Diana regularly trained, she loved to eat… a box of baked beans.

In a video shared on his personal YouTube channel, McGrady recounts that he often cooked bean stew for breakfast at Buckingham Palace and Diana almost always chose it.

“It sounds crazy, but Princess Diana could eat an entire box of baked beans for breakfast ,” the chef shared.

At first glance, many might consider this a rather strange choice, especially since the image of modern exercisers is often associated with boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, or whole-wheat bread. However, according to McGrady, if you look at the nutritional content, this food is actually very suitable.

He explained that English-style stewed beans contain a relatively low amount of sugar, only about 7 grams per serving, while being rich in protein, high in fiber, and very low in fat. This combination helps the body have enough energy before exercise without feeling too heavy in the stomach.

In particular, the carbohydrates in beans help replenish energy for muscles before workouts, while protein supports muscle mass maintenance and fiber provides a longer-lasting feeling of fullness. According to McGrady, that’s why he always considered it a very suitable breakfast for Diana before each gym session. Interestingly, Princess Diana paid attention to her diet from a very early age, at a time when the concept of “clean eating” or “healthy lifestyle” was not as widespread as it is today.

Besides baked beans, Diana had another breakfast food that she ate almost every day for a long time: overnight oats.

Today, overnight oats have become a familiar food for those pursuing a healthy lifestyle, but according to Darren McGrady, Diana ate them decades ago. He recounts that during a visit to a health clinic in Switzerland, Diana enjoyed Bircher muesli – a famous soaked oat recipe created by a Swiss nutritionist.

She immediately fell in love with the dish so much that when she returned to England, she asked the chef to prepare it for her every day. “Diana came back and said to me, ‘Darren, from now on I want to eat this for breakfast every day,'” McGrady recalled.

Bircher muesli is a combination of rolled oats, milk or yogurt, grated apple, nuts, and fruit, which are then soaked overnight to soften the ingredients and make them easier to digest. To this day, it remains one of the most balanced breakfasts, providing sufficient carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, and a generous amount of fiber.

Darren McGrady’s insights also partly reflect the changes in Diana’s lifestyle after she left the pressures of her royal marriage. In her final years, the Princess devoted more time to health care, regular exercise, and building a balanced diet instead of overly elaborate menus.

Diana’s image of stepping out of the gym in biker shorts, an oversized sweatshirt, and high socks was considered perfectly normal in the 1990s. However, years later, that style became a trend known in the fashion world as “athleisure” and was popularized by a host of stars such as Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and Bella Hadid.

Perhaps much like her fashion sense, Diana’s eating habits were also ahead of their time. She didn’t follow extreme diets but chose simple, nutritious foods that suited her body’s needs. A box of stewed beans or a bowl of overnight oatmeal might seem ordinary, but it was this regularity and balance that contributed to the healthy lifestyle that Princess Diana maintained for many years.

Even today, small stories like Diana’s pre-gym breakfast still fascinate many, because they reveal that behind the image of a globally renowned royal icon was a woman with very ordinary, simple, and practical habits, far more so than many people imagine.