Princess Anne’s Unconventional Food Habits Include Tinned Pies, Overripe Bananas and Quick Meals

Princess Anne has spent decades at some of the most formal events on the royal calendar, but when it comes to food, her preferences are reportedly far removed from the elaborate dishes often associated with royalty.

The Princess Royal, 76, has long been known for favoring practical, uncomplicated meals. Her reported choices include Fray Bentos meat pies, tinned vegetables, food that can be quickly defrosted and bananas left to ripen until they are almost black.

Those habits have drawn plenty of attention, with one palace source cited by RadarOnline.com claiming that Anne’s straightforward approach to food has become a source of mockery among some royals and palace staff. That characterization is a claim from the unnamed source rather than an independently established fact.

Princess Anne Has a Taste for Simple Food

Anne is the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Despite a lifetime of formal banquets and state occasions, reports about her everyday eating habits paint a much more down-to-earth picture.

Among the foods associated with her are Fray Bentos pies, tinned vegetables and potatoes, along with meals selected largely for convenience. She has also reportedly been known to skip lunch, particularly when her schedule is busy.

The contrast between royal surroundings and such ordinary food is perhaps most striking when it comes to her travels.

Former royal pilot Graham Laurie previously described the catering prepared for Anne aboard royal aircraft during an appearance on A Right Royal Podcast. Rather than relying exclusively on the kind of sophisticated dishes expected on first-class flights, the crew kept a supply of Fray Bentos meat pies on board.

Laurie recalled:

“We had to provide food for her, so we never left Benson without what I call the bottom line in catering.”

He explained that the crew would bring flat-tinned Fray Bentos meat pies, along with tinned vegetables and potatoes. The stewards would then prepare gravy, add spices and serve either steak and kidney pie or chicken and leek pie.

According to Laurie, Anne and the others enjoyed the meals.

Tinned Pies Were a Hit on Royal Flights

Laurie said the simple meals were particularly unusual in an aircraft setting, especially compared with the more elaborate food normally associated with first-class travel.

He suggested that this may have been part of their appeal.

“I think it was such a pleasant change from all the poncey first-class food,” Laurie said. “She enjoyed it. I mean, she may have had it at home as well, I don’t know. But certainly, it was unusual to serve it in the aircraft.”

The story offers a glimpse of a side of royal life that rarely features alongside state dinners and formal receptions. For Anne, at least according to Laurie’s recollection, a familiar pie and some tinned vegetables could be preferable to a more elaborate in-flight meal.

And her preference for uncomplicated food apparently did not stop once the plane landed.

The Same No-Fuss Approach at Gatcombe Park

Anne’s Gloucestershire home, Gatcombe Park, has also reportedly been the setting for equally straightforward meals.

She has been said to serve Fray Bentos pies to guests, accompanied by peas or green beans and boiled potatoes. Other reports have described her as preferring whichever meat or food could be defrosted most quickly.

That practical attitude appears to extend to entertaining as well.

Anne has previously joked about keeping dinner parties brief and making sure guests do not remain at the house too late.

“After all, one wants everyone out of the house by 9.15 pm at the latest,” she said. “For pudding, I pass them a choc ice to eat in the car.”

The comment neatly captures the efficient approach often associated with her hosting style: simple food, little fuss and an early finish.

Her Banana Preference Is Even More Unusual

The pies are not the only food associated with Anne’s unconventional tastes.

Former royal chef Darren McGrady has said that Anne preferred bananas when they were almost black and heavily overripe. According to McGrady, she favored them because they were easier to digest. A former royal footman, Steven Kaye, has similarly recalled seeing blackened bananas set aside specifically for the Princess Royal.

Her preference is particularly striking because the bananas were reportedly left far beyond the stage at which most people would normally eat them.

Anne has also reportedly been inclined to skip lunch altogether. Accounts of her routine suggest that she may instead rely on lighter food or snacks during the day, a habit that has also been associated with her brother, King Charles.

A Royal Diet Built Around Practicality

Taken together, these stories present a consistent picture of Anne’s approach to food. Formal royal life may involve elaborate banquets, but her reported personal preferences tend toward familiar, practical meals that require relatively little fuss.

From Fray Bentos pies and tinned vegetables on royal aircraft to quickly defrosted food at Gatcombe Park and very ripe bananas at breakfast, Anne’s tastes have repeatedly stood apart from conventional expectations of royal dining.

Her reported habits have certainly attracted attention, but the accounts also reflect a longstanding reputation for practicality and efficiency, particularly when it comes to her everyday life away from ceremonial occasions.