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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Susie Beever

Princess Anne's stomach-churning diet - as Charles gives her huge Coronation role

The Princess Royal is well known for being the hardest-working royal - she carried out no fewer than 214 engagements last year despite the bereavement of losing the late Queen.

And with a leading role in the Coronation announced this week - where the King's sister will act as "personal aide-de-camp" riding behind Charles and Camilla on horseback following the ceremony - her busy role shows no signs of abating.

But what does Princess Anne eat to fuel so many public appearances?

Like the King - the royal is said to skip lunches, meaning a filling breakfast is vital to get through long days of visiting places and meeting people around the country.

The Princess is said to favour practical, healthy and vitamin-rich foods over rich and indulgent meals, so no Full English breakfasts.

There is one aspect of Anne's diet that is rather out of the ordinary - the way she eats bananas.

The Princess Royal has already been given a leading role in the coronation (Getty Images)

Breakfast

According to Palace staff, Anne is said to start her day with a bowl of fruit - although this looks very different to a regular fruit salad.

It's been widely claimed that Anne has a very strange request for her bananas - as she prefers them to be overripe and even going mouldy.

Darren McGrady, a former chef to the royals, previously told TODAY: "Princess Anne almost always preferred the bananas almost black - over ripe - because they digested easier."

Brown bananas are typically much sweeter because all the starch and chlorophyll in the fruit has broken down into sugar, which is why they are often used in baking.

Royals traditionally always eat with cutlery, meaning Anne won't eat hers the traditional hand peeled way.

Chef Darren explained: "First, the ends of the banana are cut off. Then the banana peel is sliced down the middle from end to end so the unpeeled fruit can be opened.

"The fruit is sliced into circles and eaten with a fork."

Lunch

Usually swerving lunch, Anne is said to store fruit rations in her handbag for when she's feeling peckish and has been known to take out a kiwi, which she always keeps in there for emergencies.

Her daughter, Zara Tindall, once revealed: "She always has a kiwi fruit."

Known as a 'superfruit', the green tropical fruit more vitamin C than an orange plus a large dose of vitamin K - and can aid the digestion of meat and other protein.

Princes Anne is also known to enjoy kippers - and once sent a complimentary letter to Fortune Kippers, a 140-year-old celebrated smokehouse based in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

The Princess is said to keep kiwi fruits in her handbag to snack on (Getty Images)

The company's website reveals: "Members of the Royal Family have also been known to enjoy our kippers and HRH the Princess Anne has written to Barry and Derek telling them how much she enjoys their kippers."

Much like the late-Queen, Princess Anne is known to be fond of afternoon tea, although whether she takes cream or butter with her scones yet to be made known.

Dinner

Princess Anne does enjoy a fancy dinner - and her favourite dish was revealed when she guest-edited an edition of Country Life magazine for her 70th birthday in 2020.

Anne's perfect meal is devilled pheasant - and the Ritz's Executive Chef, John Williams, shared the decadent-yet-simple recipe,

John explained: "Basically, a couple of whole pheasants are poached, then taken off the bone, shredded and kept warm in the poaching juices.

As the hardest working Royal, Princess Anne needs to fuel herself well to get through long engagements (Getty Images)

"You just add freshly whipped cream, left in the fridge for an hour to stiffen, mixed with a good amount of Green Label mango chutney."

British game is typically leaner and higher in protein than typical farmed meats - and tends to have more flavour.

John added that Anne's perfect accompaniment is Sharwood’s Green Label chutney, adding: "I went out and found that especially!"

You can follow The Mirror's coverage of the King's Coronation here.

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