Princess Diana’s former dance partner is dishing about her surprising way of stepping away from royal life.
Choreographer Wayne Sleep, 74, from Plymouth, England, revealed Sunday that Diana used to wash his dishes to “take a break” from her royal duties.
Sleep appeared on BBC Radio 3’s program “Private Passions” and talked about his friendship with the late Princess of Wales.
Diana and Sleep sent vibrations through England when they performed a dance to Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” in 1985 at a charity gala at the Royal Opera House to celebrate her husband Charles’ 37th birthday. During the rehearsal process, the duo formed a very close friendship.
“Whenever we saw each other again, the shoes came off at my flat, she’d do the dishes. It would be fun and we’d giggle,” Sleep gushed to the show’s host, Michael Berkeley. “I think she didn’t come to me so much for the serious part that was going on in her life at the time, and things were moving so fast there; I think she just came to me for a break.”
Sleep said that at first, he wasn’t sure the dance was going to work, since the royal was 5-foot-10.
The two instantly took to each other’s senses of humor after the princess called him a “naughty boy” when Sleep revealed he had a “very late night” the previous evening.
Sleep also said that in an effort to conceal the pair’s surprise performance, they rehearsed in several different venues and that the people who knew what was going on were very fearful.
“They were all scared for their lives or their jobs … If we’d done a funny little routine that was naff,” said Sleep.
Sleep, who was a senior principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, said Diana had a natural talent for dancing since she studied ballet as a child.
According to Sleep, the dance was incredibly different from the way it was portrayed in the heavily criticized Netflix show “The Crown.”
In its fourth season, Diana (played by Emma Corrin) is met with cheers, but in real life, Sleep recalled hearing 2,500 people gasping and murmuring. But Sleep did confirm that people eventually reached the level of excitement portrayed in the drama.
“Diana would have absolutely loved [‘The Crown’],” Sleep said. “It spares nobody! Everybody gets their innings.”
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