I served Harry champagne, recalls star of Diana musical
A BRITISH actress who once served Prince Harry drinks at a party has appeared as Diana, Princess of Wales, in a new Netflix trailer of the controversial musical.
Jeanna de Waal, who grew up in Solihull before making her name on Broadway, stars in Diana: A True Musical Story, the latest in a series of films and television shows about the late Princess and the Royal family.
The musical will stream on Netflix on Oct 1, with a new trailer showing her singing “flashbulbs fill the air, frenzy fills the night” alongside a sternlooking Queen wielding a handbag.
The programme follows new film Spencer and the latest series of The Crown, both widely viewed as damaging to the monarchy.
Those behind the musical have insisted it is respectful of the Princess’s memory and has no outright villains, despite Diana coming to blows with Camilla Parker Bowles and the fictionalised Queen reportedly warning her: “In the old days we would have chopped off your head.”
Filmed ahead of its Broadway transfer in 2020, without an audience, it will stream on Netflix, which has also signed a lucrative deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s production company for a raft of programmes yet to be aired.
De Waal, who was seven when Diana died, has previously said she would love the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex to see the show, but would understand if it “might be very upsetting for them”.
She also revealed how she met Prince Harry while working as a waitress in London, serving him drinks at a catered event which he attended until 5am.
Describing how she worked as a waitress for a high-end London catering company in college holidays, she told Peopletv: “This one time, I got asked to do a gig where the princes were attending and I was personally in charge of making sure that Harry’s champagne glass was always topped up.
“My memories of it are that he and his girlfriend at the time were the last on the dance floor. We were trying to clear the tables up at 5am and he was having a great time.”