The Cozy Italian Restaurant That Still Serves Princess Diana's Favorite Pizza

Almost 30 years after her tragic death in a car crash, Princess Diana remains an intensely beloved figure. She still graces the front pages of various newspapers and magazines (some of higher standing than others), and her life has been the subject of several biopics, for which actresses like Elizabeth Debicki and Kristen Stewart have received acclaim and awards for playing her. If you ever have cause to go to London, you'll find scads of restaurants in South Kensington selling themselves as a favorite of the late princess. But in the case of the long-running Italian restaurant Da Mario, it's true — and it still serves pizza the same way Diana ate it.

Mind you, the People's Princess was far from the only celebrity to visit Da Mario. Pop stars like Madonna and actors like Dustin Hoffman and Renée Zellweger have gone, too (via Business Insider). But Kensington Palace is right nearby, and as the young William and Harry happened to love pizza, Diana found herself regularly visiting Da Mario. The restaurant paid her patronage back in kind: Diana's name is right on the restaurant's steps, and a painting inside shows her standing next to the restaurant's founder, gazing downwards at a pizza. If it sounds like kitsch, well, it is, a little bit — but given her history with the restaurant, you certainly can't call it mercenary.

If all Da Mario had to offer was a few murals and photo opportunities, it would just be another restaurant for tourists who don't want to eat British food (which has a somewhat unfair reputation for being boring and bland). Luckily, though, Da Mario has plenty of options for the curious diner — including, but certainly not limited to, its pizza. There are an array of options, including a margherita, a four cheese pizza, and a pepperoni and sausage pie with peppers on it (called the "Americana," we guess, because we're just so darn predictable.) But there are also a few specialty dishes, like the "Calabrese," with Spiniata salami and Calabrian Nduja; the "Siciliana," with eggplant (or aubergine, as the Brits call it) and goat cheese; or the "Frutti di Mare," with four different kinds of seafood, including octopus and mussels.

What if you're not in the mood for pizza? Well, you could always nosh on some of Da Mario's prosciutto di Parma, which is aged for 28 months (with the minimum amount of aging for prosciutto di Parma being 400 days) before being imported from Italy. Or, if you managed to save some room for dessert, you could enjoy their tiramisu, which was declared one of the best in London by the restaurant recommendation site The Infatuation. No matter what you get, though, isn't it nice to eat where Diana once ate? Perhaps later you can eat her favorite beet soup, or enjoy her preferred side of crispy potatoes.