The photos of John Travolta dancing with Princess Diana are something we don’t think we’ll ever get bored of, although we’ve often been left wondering exactly how this unlikely pairing came to be.
Well, the man himself shares the backstory of how he ended up cutting a rug with the late Princess of Wales as part of PBS special In Their Own Words: Diana, Princess Of Wales.
The moment in question took place back in 1985, at a White House dinner during one of Diana’s royal visits to the US.
Despite insisting he was only supposed to have been an “extra” at the event, the Grease star has now revealed exactly how Diana wound up becoming his dancing partner.
In a clip from the documentary, John explained: “About 10 o’clock at night, [former first lady] Nancy Reagan tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘The princess, her fantasy is to dance with you. Would you like to dance with her tonight?’. And I said, ‘Well of course’.”
He continued: “My heart starts to race, you know, and I tap [Diana] on the shoulder and she turns around and looks at me, and she had that kind of bashful dip [of her chin] that she did, and she looked up at me, and I said, ‘Would you care to dance with me?’.”
John added: “It was a storybook moment. We bowed when it was over, and, you know, she was off, and I was off, and my carriage turned into a pumpkin.”
July 2021 marked what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th birthday, with her sons, Princes William and Harry, coming together to unveil a statue in her honour. Today, 31 August, marks 25 years since the Princess of Wales passed away.
The late royal returned to the forefront of the public’s consciousness in 2020 thanks to the Netflix drama The Crown, in which she was portrayed by Emma Corrin.
Kristen Stewart is also portrayed Princess Diana in Spencer, while Elizabeth Debicki will take over the part from Emma Corrin when The Crown returns for its fifth season.