While Prince William and Prince Harry grew up in an environment very different to what most people experience, life as princes for the brothers was not all palaces and crown jewels. Although they grew up with a great deal of privilege as members of the British Royal Family, the normality of both William, who is first-in-line to the throne, and Harry, who is no longer a working royal, often surprises people.
This is because although they called the likes of Kensington Palace home, the brothers were given some of the same experiences as other children their age by their mother, the late Princess Diana. As young boys, William, 42, and Harry, 40, were taken on normal days out by Diana, whether that be to Thorpe Park or a playground. As young boys, they also had the joy of being taken to McDonald’s, with a former royal chef revealing why they loved going there.
In an interview with Heart Bingo, former royal chef Darren McGrady, who worked for the royal household for 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s, said Diana took her children to the fast-food chain as little boys because they wanted the toys in the Happy Meal.
As reported by People, McGrady, who was Diana’s private chef at Kensington, said: “One lunchtime, I was getting lunch ready and the Princess came in and said, ‘Cancel lunch today. I’m taking them out’.
“I asked, ‘Where are you going?’ and she said, ‘McDonald’s.’ I said, ‘I can do burgers better than McDonald’s,’ and she said, ‘I know that, Darren, but they want the toys in the Happy Meal.’
“They would get fast food sometimes, just like normal families with children.”
While Harry and William, as young boys, may have wanted to go to McDonald’s for the toys, it is believed Diana also wanted her sons to have normal experiences outside Palace walls to show them what life was really like.
Her ambition to make her sons aware of the real world was shown very clearly when she took William as a young prince to the homeless shelter The Passage, where he still helps out to this day.
In a documentary last year, the prince recalled going with his mother to the homeless shelter to meet people when he was around 11-years-old.
He said: “I remember having good conversations, playing chess and chatting. That’s when it dawned on me that there are other people out there who don’t have the same life as you do. She made sure when we grew up that the life outside the palace walls was real.”
It is believed that William tries to follow in his mother’s footsteps when it comes to parenting his own children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.