John Travolta Reflected on Dancing With Princess Diana

published 22 April 2021

John Travolta compared dancing with Princess Diana to a "fairytale" in an interview with Esquire Mexico.
"I didn't think they'd ask me to dance with her. I had the great privilege and honor of doing so," Travolta recalled.
"I was smart enough to stamp it in my memory as a very special, magical moment," he added.

John Travolta likened dancing with Princess Diana at the White House to a "fairytale," in a new interview with Esquire Mexico. The Grease star and the royal took to the dance floor at a state dinner in 1985, hosted by then-president Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan.

"I didn't think they'd ask me to dance with her. I had the great privilege and honor of doing so, and I thought, 'There must be a reason for doing this and I better give it my all,'" Travolta told Esquire (as translated by People). "That meant lead the dance well and make sure we had fun. That was the easy part, but just the fact of greeting Diana appropriately, being confident and asking her to dance was a complicated task."

"Think of the setting. We were at the White House. It's midnight. The stage is like a dream. I approach her, touch her elbow, invite her to dance," Travolta recalled. "She spins around and gives me that captivating smile, just a little sad, and accepts my invitation. And there we were, dancing together as if it were a fairytale."

washington, dc november 09 diana, princess of wales, wearing a midnight blue velvet, off the shoulder evening gown designed by victor edelstein, is watched by us president ronald reagan and first lady nancy reagan, as she dances with john travolta at the white house on november 9, 1985 in washington, dc photo by anwar hussein wireimage

"Who could ever imagine something like that would happen to them someday?" he added. "I was smart enough to stamp it in my memory as a very special, magical moment."

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Travolta reflected on the moment in a 2007 interview with Dutch TV station Één, as People reports, revealing it was Nancy Reagan who told him Diana wanted to join him for a dance. "[She] said, 'It is her wish,'" he said. "At midnight, I had to tap her on her shoulder, and I had to say, 'Would you care to dance?' She turned around and dipped her head in that Lady Diana way, and we were off for 15 minutes dancing."

"I'll never forget it," he added. "I'm so honored that I was able to experience this, and I know for a fact that it was her highlight of being in the United States; it was her favorite moment. So I feel I made her life better, she made my life better, and I'm very sorry that she's not here."