The Only Thing Princess Diana Ate for Breakfast Every Day

Royal eating habits fascinate me endlessly. I will never get over the fact that Queen Elizabeth II didn't like garlic. The idea of the Queen going through life without ever indulging in cheesy garlic bread sounds so sad. Not all of the royal family's preferences are a letdown, though.

I tested Queen Elizabeth's favorite salad dressing, and that was a delight. Then, when former royal chef Darren McGrady shared his recipe for Princess Diana's favorite breakfast, I knew I had to test that recipe, too.

According to McGrady's post, Princess Diana loved her overnight oats. Further proof that she was a trendsetter, because she was eating overnight oats in the '90s—way before they became the viral breakfast we know today. She picked up her recipe at a Swiss health clinic, and it uses a few tricks that are pretty genius.

How I Made the Royal Chef's Overnight Oats

Like Princess Diana, I am also a fan of overnight oats, so I was eager to try this out. What I find so interesting is that, for this recipe, you soak the oats in orange juice overnight. I had never thought of this before! It's a great way to add more flavor to oats without soaking them in milk. Plus, that hit of acid helps cut through the oats' relatively bland flavor. It made me think about other juices that could be good additions to an overnight oats recipe—maybe prune, grapefruit, or cherry?

Aside from the oats and orange juice, the other ingredients are honey, plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, shredded apple, blueberries, and walnuts. The amounts used aren't exact measurements; they're more a matter of personal preference. I soaked half a cup of oats in half a cup of juice overnight, and since I like my oats sweet, I used quite a bit of honey.

I also added a lot of walnuts for more crunch. Shredding the apple is a genius trick—it's an easy way to incorporate both the fruit and some of its juice into the oats. I used a Honeycrisp apple since that's the kind Chef McGrady calls out in his recipe, but any apple would work just fine.

Chef McGrady's recipe for overnight oats was a delectable breakfast, but if I make it again, I would make a few swaps. Firstly, I'd skip the lemon juice. The orange juice already adds a kick of citrus acidity to the oats, and the lemon felt like overkill—plus, it added more moisture to the mix, which it really didn't need. Secondly, I'd add chia seeds to the oats and orange juice, then let them soak overnight. I think this would help make the oats' texture chewier, since they were a bit soggy. And finally, I would add a dash of cinnamon to give it a slight earthy sweetness, playing off the walnuts and apples.

Overall, this is an overnight oats recipe that I will make on repeat. If it's good enough for Princess Diana, it's good enough for me!