EXCLUSIVE: Princess Diana's 'Unusual Late-Night Comfort Eating Snack Habit' Revealed
Princess Diana appears to have been all about snacking.
Aug. 12 2026, Published 8:00 p.m. ET
RadarOnline.com can reveal Princess Diana had an unusual late-night comfort-eating habit behind palace doors – slipping into the Kensington Palace kitchen to snack on cold lamb cutlets while chatting informally with staff.
Diana, who died aged 36 in 1997, lived at Kensington Palace from 1981 until her death and apparently treated its kitchen rather differently from the formal image surrounding royal life.
Princess Diana's Secret Palace Kitchen Habit
Princess Diana visited the kitchen for late-night comfort snacks.
Her former bodyguard Ken Wharfe, 77, and former royal chef Mervyn Wycherley have revealed how the princess regularly visited the kitchen, where her favorite snacks were deliberately kept waiting for her.
A source familiar with Diana's palace routine claimed: "Diana didn't always want something elaborate prepared by a royal chef. Sometimes she simply wanted to wander into the kitchen, find something cold in the fridge and eat it while talking to the people working there. It may sound unusual, but it was just comfort food late at night in a very informal setting."
Wharfe recalled how comfortable Diana appeared around the palace kitchen and its staff.
He said: "I remember the princess would very often come in and sit in the kitchen with (Wycherley)," adding the princess would eat sitting "astride the chest freeze or whatever."
Wycherley agreed Diana "spent a lot of time in the kitchen" and revealed he ensured her preferred snacks were readily available.
He recalled: "I always had in the kitchen, there was a small fridge, and I used to leave things in the fridge that she liked – cold lamb cutlets and things like that."
Wycherley added: "So she could just snack whenever she wanted to."
King Charles Expressed 'Disdain' Over Fast Food Trips With Young Princes
King Charles expressed disdain toward his sons eating high-street burgers, according to bodyguard Ken Wharfe.
The informality extended to Diana's approach to food with her sons, Prince William, now 44, and Prince Harry, 41.
Despite having royal chefs available, Diana famously took the boys for decidedly ordinary fast food.
Wharfe said: "As William got older, of course, he was very keen to go to burger bars and pizza places, but that didn't really sit that comfortably with his father."
He recalled "coming back from the pizza place and the burger in Kensington High Street" when William excitedly told King Charles, now 77: "Oh, Papa, we just had these amazing burgers!"
Wharfe said Charles responded with apparent "disdain."
The ex-bodyguard remembered Charles saying: "I don't know why you eat that food when I have this marvelous army of chefs at Kensington Palace."
Relationship With Staff Directly Clash With Royal Protocol
Princess Diana aimed to give her sons ordinary childhood experiences.
A source said Diana's approach reflected her determination to give William and Harry experiences beyond traditional palace life, adding: "Taking the boys for burgers or sitting around the kitchen eating leftovers might sound completely ordinary, but within that royal environment it represented Diana's determination to make everyday experiences part of their childhood."
Wharfe, who worked for the royal household from 1986 until 2002, has also described Diana's unusually warm relationship with employees.
He said Diana wanted staff "to be part of this wider family." Wharfe added: "Which was quite opposite of what the Prince of Wales wanted that time."
"But this was Diana's style," Wharfe explained.
Princess Diana's Private Palace Life Revealed
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Stories from staff revealed private habits behind her public image.
An insider said: "These kitchen anecdotes offer another glimpse of the private habits behind Diana's carefully scrutinized public existence – including evenings when palace formality apparently gave way to conversation with staff and cold lamb cutlets straight from the refrigerator."
Diana's relationship with the royal family became increasingly difficult as her marriage to Charles deteriorated.
She spoke publicly about marital problems, isolation, and pressures surrounding royal life.
Her 1992 separation and 1996 divorce intensified tensions, while her candid interviews and independent public profile challenged traditional palace conventions before her death.
