Who Princess Diana dreamed of dancing with
One of the most iconic photos of Princess Diana was captured in 1985 at President Reagan’s White House Reception, when she hit the dancefloor with none other than John Travolta. And while she may have looked radiantly happy at the time, a new documentary claims she was secretly hoping to dance with a different man.
In the upcoming doco The Last 100 Days of Diana, her former butler Paul Burrell reveals she was dying to show off her moves with legendary ballet dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was also in attendance that night.
“Nancy and Ronny Reagan set up the press to take a picture of her dancing with John Travolta,” Burrell claims. “She said, ‘I didn't really want to dance with him though. I wanted to dance with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Because he is my hero.’”
Given that Diana loved ballet, and even took to the stage in 1985 to perform alongside Wayne Sleep at the Royal Opera House in 1985, Burrell’s revelation isn’t necessarily unbelievable, despite the disgraced butler being black-listed by the royal family after giving a number of explosive interviews in the wake of Diana’s death.
It’s also not the first time he’s made the allegation. In his 2006 book The Way We Were, Burrell said Diana confessed to him that “John Travolta was a gentleman and absolutely charming but he wasn't my chosen partner.”
“She wanted to dance with Baryshnikov,” he wrote.