DANCING WITH DI WA a Storybook Moment

More than 35 years after their magical meetup at the White House, John Travolta reflects on falling under the spell of the late Princess Diana

Once upon a time, in a land called Washington, D.C., two worlds collided — then glided across a dance floor. Around 10 p.m. on Nov. 9, 1985, first lady Nancy Reagan approached actor John Travolta at a state dinner her husband, President Ronald Reagan, was hosting in honor of Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Nancy told the Grease and Saturday Night Fever star, “The princess, her fantasy is to dance with you,” then asked, “Would you like to dance with her tonight?” John didn’t hesitate: “I said, ‘Well, of course.’”

What happened two hours later was nothing short of spectacular — and John still remembers every detail of the night he’s said was “like a fairy tale.” “My heart starts to race … and I tap her on the shoulder and she turns around and looks at me,” John, then 31, recalls of the seconds before he asked the 24-yearold royal to join him on the marble checkerboard floor of the White House’s Cross Hall. “The whole room cleared,” John adds, and “we danced for what felt like 15 minutes” as a military band played. Looking back, “it was a storybook moment,” he’s said. “We bowed when it was over…and my carriage turned into a pumpkin.”

HER SPECIAL GUEST

It was 11 years before the Princess of Wales tragically died in a

Paris car crash. The evening they danced, she was a mother to two toddlers — Prince William and Prince Harry — and four years into her marriage to Charles, then 36, while John was a single man, still nearly six years away from tying the knot with the love of his life, the late Kelly Preston. John accepted the invite to the White House “with a very humble attitude,” he says, because he felt he “was an extra in a room of very important people.”

But it turns out John was, to Diana, one of the most important people there. Among the 80 guests, who included dignitaries, politicians and celebrities like actor Tom Selleck, ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and makeup mogul Estée

Lauder, invites to three stars in particular — John, singer Neil Diamond and actor Clint Eastwood — were extended specifically at the princess’ request. The admiration, it turns out, was mutual. “John was blown away by Diana’s beauty, but he felt most drawn to her spark for life,” says a source. “He says she had such a presence about her, and he felt such a connection.”

Indeed, John describes their night together as “magical.” But it was his and Di’s skill, not sorcery, that ensured that their moment in the spotlight played out as beautifully as it did. “I’d seen her dance with Charles beforehand, so I knew that she was strong. But she looked like she was leading [him],” John’s said. “I knew that the world was watching, [so] I thought that I really needed to give her certainty that I knew what to do.” He put his hand in the middle of her back, brought her hand down “so that it wouldn’t be so high,” he’s said, “and gave her the confidence that we would do just fine.”

CRACKS IN THE ROYAL FACADE

Not everyone was impressed, though. “When John and Diana danced, it was hard not to notice that Charles was green with envy,” says an insider. “Despite Diana and Charles smiling for the cameras, you could cut the tension between them with a knife.” After they left the White House, the story goes, “Charles’ insecurities got the better of him,” says the insider. “He totally lost it and furiously accused Diana of making him look foolish because she stole the show with John. He could hardly forget about it, either, because it became front-page news.” Years later in 1992, Charles wrote a letter to Nancy in which he referenced the public breakdown of his marriage, describing it as “a kind of Greek tragedy.”

However, John and Diana’s dance wasn’t the whole story. “They secretly snuck off afterward and took private photos together and talked,” says the source. “Diana confessed that she loved Grease and was just as starstruck by John as he was by her.” John’s previously shared that they spoke that night about Clint being late to the dinner. “She said, ‘What else is more interesting than being here tonight?’ And she was right,” John admitted.

Now 67, John insists he’ll “never forget” his dance with Di. “I’m so honored that I was able to experience that, and I know for a fact that it was a highlight of [her time] in the United States,” he’s said, adding, “I feel I made her life better, she made my life better, and I’m very sorry that she’s not here.” Diana made him feel special, and “for that moment,” he’s said, “I was her Prince Charming.”