If you love overnight oats, then you have something in common with the late Princess Diana. Long before this dish was a major online trend, it was Diana Spencer’s favorite breakfast. In June 2025, her former chef, Darren McGrady, posted a YouTube video showcasing Lady Di’s preferred morning meal, which she discovered while visiting a Swiss health clinic. She returned home with the recipe in hand, gave it to McGrady, and requested he make her the overnight oats for breakfast “every day.”
While explaining what makes overnight oats such a great, healthy breakfast, McGrady said, “Oats are just rich in fiber and perfect for breakfast every morning hot. But when you actually have them cold with a little liquid over them and they’re steeped overnight — and then you add all these ingredients there, too — it just takes them to the next level.” It’s not too surprising that Diana made this now-popular staple her go-to breakfast — after all, her favorite food was something surprisingly normal: stuffed bell peppers.
Making Princess Diana’s overnight oats
In his YouTube video, chef Darren McGrady explains how he made Princess Diana’s overnight oats. While most recipes that people use today — like our blueberry chia overnight oats and our sweet pumpkin overnight oats — call for preparing the entire dish the night before, all the chef does in advance is steep the oats in liquid. (Interestingly, McGrady uses orange juice for this liquid rather than the typical milk.)
After letting the oats steep overnight, McGrady then mixes in Greek yogurt, raw honey, and lemon juice. To finish off the dish, he stirs in the last few ingredients: grated Honeycrisp apples, blueberries, and walnuts. After transferring the oats to a glass, he garnishes the dish with extra blueberries and more walnuts.
Of course, if you want to make this breakfast at home, feel free to adjust a few details here and there to match your preferences. Even McGrady notes that you can control the sweetness by how much honey you include. However, you can also swap out the walnuts for a nut you like better, or you can swap out blueberries for blackberries. Whatever you do, make sure to first consult our list of mistakes to avoid when preparing overnight oats, like using instant oats or skipping flavorful add-ins.
