Princess Diana to the world is known as the People’s Princess and after her divorce
from Prince Charles, she was like an A-lister. She was a fashion icon and a charitable soul
but she also was who all men swooned over. Did you know that two famous Hollywood actors
literally squared up over her? This info came from Diana’s good friend, Elton John who
spilled some secrets about the princess and the royal family! So if you wanna know the
inside of Elton John and Lady Di’s complicated friendship, keep watching!
Elton John recently released an autobiography titled “Me” where he revealed some facts
not only about Princess Diana and their friendship but also about the royal family and even the
Queen herself! It turns out that while for the outside world she’s kind of a stiff
person, in private she can be quite hilarious. And she even dances at her parties!
But now how was Elton’s relationship with Diana like? Everyone thinks that they were
such great and close friends, which is true, but they actually had a fallout and made up
not long before Diana’s death. Elton John said that she was blessed with incredible
social ease and an ability to make people feel comfortable in her company. He believes
that her kids have inherited it, especially Prince Harry who’s almost the same as his
mom because he’s not interested in all the formalities.
I guess everyone remembers Elton John’s moving performance at Diana’s funeral. This
was a goodbye but how did Elton and Diana’s friendship start? They first met in 1981 at
Prince Andrew’s 21st birthday party, not long before Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles.
That night when she arrived in the ballroom she and Elton immediately clicked. Then they
ended up pretending to dance to Charleston while making fun of the disco that took place
before Elton John’s performance. And while during the time around her royal
wedding with Prince Charles, Diana might have seemed like a shy person, in private she was
a fabulous company. Elton said that Diana was the best party guest: she was great for
gossiping. Apparently “you could ask her anything and she’d tell you.” Would you
ever think that Diana was like that? Elton also confirmed that men just adored the princess.
They seemed to lose their minds around her, they were just so smitten. And basically everyone
wanted to meet her. This is how it was with the head of Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg and
his wife who came over to England and Elton John and his husband threw a dinner party
for them. Obviously the one person they wanted to meet the most was Princess Diana.
To the party, John also invited some stars who were in the country at that moment, including
Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone. And at the party, a very unusual thing happened:
straight away, Richard Gere and Diana seemed very interested in each other. As she was
separated from Prince Charles at that point, she and the actor ended up sitting by the
fireplace together engaged in a conversation. That’s when Elton noticed strange atmosphere
in the room. You won’t believe but Sylvester Stallone clearly wasn’t happy with Diana
and Richard Gere’s blossoming friendship. Do you think he turned up to the party with
the intention of picking Diana up but his plans got ruined? But that’s still not the
funniest thing! When everyone moved to the dining room for
dinner, Gere and Stallone were missing. Elton John’s husband went to look or them and
found them in the corridor squaring up with each other! Did they want to settle their
argument over Diana with a fistfight? The two calmed down but Stallone still wasn’t
happy. And while after the dinner Diana and Richard Gere continued to chat in front of
the fire, Stallone stormed off home. He seemed pretty angry but Diana and Gere didn’t seem
to notice at all because they were too busy gazing at each other. Do you think that Lady
Di and Richard Gere would have been a good fit?
So it looks like the Diana Effect not only changed people’s attitudes towards the royal
family, AIDS, bulimia or mental health. There also was another type of the Diana effect
which made Hollywood stars want to fight over her like teenagers.
Elton John and Diana had been great friends for years until they completely unexpectedly
fell out. It was all because of a coffee table book “Rock and Royalty” published in 1997
by their mutual friend, the designer Gianni Versace. The proceeds from the book were supposed
to go to John’s AIDS foundation. Diana’s part in the book was writing the foreword
but she hadn’t seen the layout before that. After receiving an advance copy of the book
she discovered that it included photos of half-naked men alongside images of the royals.
This made her furious! Diana felt used and misled so she decided to withdraw her foreword
because she was worried that the book would upset the Queen.
Diana and Elton didn’t speak until the day that Gianni Versace was murdered in July 1997.
She phoned John after almost six months of not talking to each other. At the designer’s
funeral, Diana was seated next to Elton in the front row. At one point, she reached out
and put an arm around the singer to comfort him while he was silently sobbing throughout
the service. This event was what brought them back together but not for long because six
weeks later Diana was dead. Elton rewrote his hit Candle in the Wind, which had originally
been recorded for Marilyn Monroe, and as a tribute to Diana, he sang it at her funeral
in September 1997. Reportedly when Diana introduced Elton John
to Prince William and Prince Harry, he got on with them really well. Maybe that’s why
he still remains close with Diana’s sons? He attended the weddings of both princes,
performed at Harry and Meghan’s wedding and stood up for them when they were criticized
for taking private jets to multiple destinations, despite their work with climate change. Elton
said that Diana was one of his dearest friends so he felt obligated to protect Harry and
his family and he was the one who organized the “carbon neutral” jet.
What do you think about Lady Diana’s friendship with Elton John? Do you think there was a
chance for a romance between Diana and Richard Gere? Do you think that she would have been
happy that Elton is still friends with her sons? Let's talk about it in the comments
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