In a new PBS special called In Their Own Words: Diana, Princess of Wales, John Travolta admits that the iconic dance they shared together was actually her idea. Additionally, the famous dance was able to happen with the help of former first lady Nancy Reagan.
“About 10 o’clock at night, Nancy Reagan tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘The princess, her fantasy is to dance with you. Would you dance with her tonight?'” Travolta says in the special. “And I said, ‘Well, of course. How does this work?’ And she said, ‘Well, at about midnight I’ll come and get you and then I’ll lead you over to her and then you ask her to dance.'”
John Travolta remembers his dance with Lady Diana perfectly
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Even though the dance was Diana’s idea, Travolta said his heart was racing when he asked her himself. “She looked up and me and I said, ‘Would you care to dance with me?’ and she said, ‘Yes.’ I took her and the whole room cleared. We danced for what felt like 15 minutes.” The original photos were captured by former chief official White House photographer Pete Souza. Travolta is sporting a black tuxedo while Diana is sporting the iconic midnight-blue Victor Edelstein mermaid gown.
In a caption of the Instagram post shared to Souza’s account, he notes that aside from dancing with Travolta, “Diana also danced that night with President Reagan, Tom Selleck, Clint Eastwood, and Neil Diamond. She did not dance with Prince Charles.” In the PBS special, Travolta says that dancing with Diana was like something out of a storybook. “We bowed when it was over and she was off, and I was off, and my carriage turned into a pumpkin,” he said.
In a separate interview with Esquire Mexico, Travolta said, “Who could ever imagine something like that would happen to them someday? I was smart enough to stamp it in my memory as a very special, magical moment.”
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