Lady Diana, ‘the dancing queen’, recalls her teacher’s memories in a book

“The Princess of Wales loved dancing. A secret she had nurtured for years. No one was supposed to know, nothing was supposed to leak out, according to the court’s dictate. Lady Diana would one day become queen and knowing that she took dance lessons would have given her the future ‘queen’ is a fatuous image of frivolity”. The ‘memoirs’ of Anne Allan, former dancer of the London City Ballet, entitled ‘Dancing With Diana’, are released in England. For eight years, one hour a week, Allan followed the mother of the future king of the United Kingdom in her terpsichorean training.

In an interview with the French weekly ‘Point de Vue’, the author says that what really struck her about Lady D was “her shyness, her not feeling absolutely at ease, but there was within her the will to to overcome her fears. At the beginning it wasn’t easy, I was thinking of a more rigid protocol, but the Princess of Wales was basically a pupil like the others. We talked, we laughed together, she was a young woman who knew how to smile itself”. An exclusive bond, theirs, an extraordinary understanding, made of silences and small secrets. “I was one of the first to know that she was expecting her first child, Prince William – recalls Anne Allan – She asked me not to divulge the news. Everything we said to each other remained locked inside the dance hall. Perhaps for this reason the Our relationship was so special.”

Numerous photos (but also some old films) portraying the Princess of Wales as a teenager showing off some dance steps. The unforgettable waltz danced with John Travolta on 9 November 1985, when he was on an official visit to the White House with Prince Charles, the pas de deux with the great English dancer Wayne Sleep at a charity gala organized at the Royal Albert Hall in 1985 , which caused a stir and curiosity. Lady D then loved to chase Terpsichore even behind the scenes, often spending time after the shows with the artists or with young students from schools and academies.

And Anne Allan continues in her memories. “The Princess of Wales often confided in us during our lessons – she explains again – She could no longer stand the pressure of the press. She couldn’t understand what the interest and curiosity towards her could be. She was only 20 years old at the time, in basically her profession was to take on the role of the Princess of Wales, she wanted to do it in the best possible way, without making mistakes. Perhaps, in her opinion, what the press wanted was great passion for her – continues the ex dancer of the London City Ballet – One day I confessed that he loved ‘performing’ in the corridors of Kensington Palace and that Prince Charles couldn’t understand his love for Terpsichore, he thought it was something futile, useless.”

A marriage without a happy ending between the Princess of Wales and the heir to the throne. “Lady D was very much in love with Prince Charles – the author of ‘Dancing With Diana’ replies to ‘Point de Vue’ – She wanted to be on his level, make him happy and proud of her, she thought that we could always do better. And above all it was convinced that the marriage would work, that things would change, but it didn’t. One day Princess Diana confessed to me, ‘I have the impression that Charles wants each of us to live our own lives Camilla. An authentic, generous, charismatic woman – he concludes – She loved dancing, it’s true, but in her heart there was only room for the little princes William and Harry”.