Princess Diana Kept It Real By Letting Her Boys Eat McDonald’s

While it may seem like the royals lead a pretty stuffy life with all their etiquette rules and long-held traditions, for Princess Diana, she apparently tried to keep it real in regard to raising her princes.

Prince William and Prince Harry, the sons of Prince Charles, the current heir to the throne, and his wife, Princess Diana, were seen at royal engagements from an early age. As a result of royal protocol, the boys learned to behave at such social events. While it may seem like the boys were raised in a cloistered environment that allowed little freedom as a result of their royal stations, apparently, this was not the case — at least while Princess Diana was still alive, according to a butler that worked for the royal family at that point in the boys’ lives.

According to U.K.’s Mirror, Princess Diana regularly allowed her boys, Princes William and Harry, to partake in McDonald’s takeaway. Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, revealed to the Mirror that Diana wanted her sons to have as normal a life as possible. As a result of this, she frequently allowed her sons to have takeaway on a Saturday night.

“The three of them would nip to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and fries before coming back to watch Blind Date,” Paul Burrell recalled.

Princess Diana spent her Saturday nights eating McDonald's with sons William and Harry, says former butler https://t.co/kcNcEsUIye

— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 19, 2018

The former butler also detailed the normality in which they would squash together in the sitting room while watching television.

“All three of them would squat on this massive, stuffed hippopotamus Diana had in her sitting room. They loved Blind Date and you’d hear them all screaming things like ‘Oh don’t pick him!'”

This is not the first time it has been noted by members of the royal’s staff that Princess Diana allowed her boys to have McDonald’s regularly. As News.com.au points out, the former Buckingham Palace chef, Darren McGrady, also noticed this trait. McGrady worked in the palace kitchen for 11 years before serving Princess Diana and, over that time, witnessed the boys with their hankering for McDonald’s and other junk food items.

“Cancel lunch for the boys I’m taking them out, we’re going to McDonald’s,” Diana reportedly told McGrady at one point.

When McGrady insisted he could make burgers for Prince William and Prince Harry, Diana told him that he need not bother.

“She said, ‘No, it’s the toy they want,'” Grady replied. “Yeah, the boys loved McDonald’s, and going out [for] pizza and having potato skins — sort of the American foods. There were royal princes but had children’s palates.”