In case ya didn't know, royal moms are just like us! While pregnant, they also experience intense food cravings for junk and weird combinations and late-night takeout. Prior to Princess Diana, most royals were pretty private about all things pregnancy, but she helped usher in a new era of being more open about all aspects of a royal's personal life — including pregnancy. That, and modern-day media stories have allowed us to learn some of the royals' pregnancy cravings.
From Diana and Sarah Ferguson, to Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, these famous mothers all had their own unique favorite foods when they were carrying their kids. And as medical information has shifted over the years, so have their pregnancy diets. (Meghan Markle reportedly ate one of the healthiest pregnancy diets around when she was carrying Archie.) But even she caved into a craving every once in a while. Here's what the royal ladies were eating while with child.
Documented royal pregnancy cravings go back to Anne Boleyn
According to the Daily Mail, King Henry VIII knew his wife, Anne Boleyn, was pregnant when she started to crave apples all the time. She described it as "an inestimable wild desire to eat apples, such as I have never had in my life before." After her specific craving, she eventually gave birth to Queen Elizabeth I.
Princess Diana had a rough relationship with food during pregnancy
Princess Diana once revealed in a tell-all book, Diana, Her True Story in Her Own Words, that her first pregnancy was really tough for her. In addition to struggling with bulimia, she suffered intense morning sickness. "With William, it was appalling, almost every time I stood up I was sick," she said. Reportedly, her morning sickness wasn't quite as bad for her second pregnancy — which had to have been a relief.
Diana craved bacon and hated tomato
Although morning sickness made eating during her pregnancy a struggle, we do know a little bit about her cravings. According to the previously mentioned Daily Mail story, Princess Diana was a fan of bacon and not a fan of tomato. She once wrote to her chef while pregnant, "To Mervie, please could I have a bacon sandwich for breakfast and a much-needed rest from our friend the tomato! D."
Sarah Ferguson had several cravings
Per the Express, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, had many a craving when pregnant with daughters Beatrice and Eugenie. Among those cravings were cheeseburgers, mayonnaise, and mackerel fish sandwiches. She later remarked that her pregnancy snacking made her feel "ugly," but she should cut herself some slack. After all, she was bringing royalty into the world!
She also reportedly kept drinking champagne
The same Express article also reported that Fergie kept drinking champagne while pregnant. Her doctor okayed this, so long as she cut back to three or four glases per week — versus a glass a night. These days that would be a pretty unpopular choice for a royal mom-to-be to make.
Kate Middleton ate cookies to help with morning sickness
The Duchess of Cambridge was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness, for all of her pregnancies. That made keeping food down in those early weeks tough, but she combatted it the best she could. Kate reportedly would eat lavender shortbread cookies, since lavender can have healing properties.
With George, she had a taste for curry
Curry has long been a favorite food for Kate Middleton. She once said her ideal date night is eating takeout curry and watching TV. Kate's kids love curry, too, and that's probably because it was reportedly one of her pregnancy cravings.
... And she was big on sweets
When the duchess was pregnant with George, a source claimed to Us Weekly that she was constantly craving sweets like "Chocolate, biscuits, cake." The source added, "She's got sugar on the brain." We imagine that Kate probably eats pretty healthy most of the time, so it's nice that she let herself live a little during pregnancy.
During Kate's second pregnancy, she craved pizza
Kate loves pizza so much that she reportedly had it delivered to her hospital room after giving birth to Prince George, per Us Weekly — and the craving continued into her second pregnancy with Princess Charlotte. The outlet noted that when the Duchess of Cambridge was in New York, she ordered several pizzas to her room. Apparently, her order included a spicy sausage pizza without mushrooms, and a prosciutto pizza without sliced tomatoes.
Just writing this is making us hungry.
With Prince Louis, Kate wanted pickles
With her most recent pregnancy, Kate developed a new craving that's pretty popular among pregnant women: pickles. While carrying Louis, she reportedly sent William to the royal kitchens for a jar of pickles that she could eat with toast. The kitchen was actually all out of pickles, but they quickly had some delivered to satisfy her craving.
Princess Madeleine was a cheese fan
The Swedish princess has three children, so she's no stranger to pregnancy cravings. Princess Madeleine told the Swedish Elle magazine ahead of her first birth that she was particularly invested in eating cheese. Many of us can relate to that craving, pregnant or not.
Meghan Markle liked her avocados
The American duchess has long been an avocado fan, even serving avocado toast on fancy dishes at the palace when she was still a senior royal. So it's no surprise that this item was on her list of pregnancy cravings, too. Express reported that, according to the Finding Freedom tell-all, the Duchess of Sussex would often indulge in guacamole while carrying Archie.
She ultimately preferred veggies to junk food
Along with her guac, Meghan was a fan of crudités — aka sliced veggies, like carrots and celery sticks. (Perhaps she even dipped them in the guacamole.) The Finding Freedom book said Harry was always doting on her while she was pregnant, making sure she had all of her snacks like the veggies and guac dip.
... And she craved exercise
When pregnant women are talking about cravings, they usually mean of the food variety, but Meghan also craved exercise while pregnant with Archie — particularly yoga. "It works for the mind and body, it's so key. A nice practice would be so fantastic right now," she told a fan during an outing in 2019.
But Meghan reportedly did indulge a little
Even though she had a pretty healthy pregnancy diet and exercise-wise, a royal insider claimed that Meghan did have an occasional indulgence. "She's been eating much more cheese than she used to — pasteurized, of course — and Harry has been buying her British candy and chocolates," the source said, adding that the duchess was also a fan of fries.
