Princess Diana is remembered to the world as a doting mother, glamorous activist and an international icon.
However, what many don’t know about the blonde beauty is that she was also a dancing queen.
In 1981, Anne Allan, a ballet dancer with the London City Ballet, received a shocking request: to teach the Princess of Wales how to pirouette.
What followed was nine years of secret sessions that saw the Princess and Anne forming a close bond, with Diana divulging every aspect of her private life – including her rocky marriage and her battle with an eating disorder.
Now, the dancer who guided the Princess through her most difficult years has released an explosive memoir titled, Dancing With Diana, that tells all there is to know about the secrets the royal spilled and her heartbreaking moments.
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Princess Diana (seen in 1995) is remembered to the world as a doting mother, glamorous activist and an international icon
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However, what many don’t know about the blonde beauty is that she was also a dancing queen (seen dancing with Charles in 1985)
In a copy of the tell-all shared with DailyMail.com, which was released on September 10, Anne recalled how her classes became an outlet for Diana’s deepest struggles and how the cracks in her marriage affected her.
During her first dance lesson, Anne was touched by Diana’s wonderful personality, which was apparent when she insisted her instructor refer to her by her first name and not ‘Your Royal Highness.’
Throughout their classes together, Diana is said to have cried, laughed and celebrated as she threw on a black leotard and pink tights, and twirled the duties of a Royal out of her mind.
However, the problems at the palace soon became too overwhelming for a ballet number to solve.
And so Anne found her new pal crying on the studio floor as she revealed that her marriage with Charles was coming apart at the seams – and it was due to another woman.
The Princess of Wales had previously told her dance teacher about her husband and her desperate desire to make him happy.
‘I do love him so and want to make him happy and to be proud of me as his wife,’ Anne recalled Diana telling her.
Her comments cut deeper when within a short matter of time, Anne found the Princess of Wales in a fit of tears as she was overcome with emotion.
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In 1981, Anne Allan, a ballet dancer with the London City Ballet, received a shocking request: to teach the Princess of Wales how to pirouette
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What followed was years of secret sessions that saw the Princess and Anne forming a close bond, with Diana divulging every aspect of her private life (seen with Charles in 1981)
As tears streamed down her face, Diana told her dance teacher: ‘You must think me awful.’
According to Anne, Diana said that the ‘establishment’ found her difficult before revealing that her husband had been having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles – now Queen Camilla.
She claimed Diana said: ‘I know he is seeing Camilla again. Am I expected to accept that, like the other Princesses of Wales before, one just turns a blind eye to husbands having a mistress! Why does he not love me? I really don’t understand. I have tried everything, I tried to conform to his wishes even though I don’t always agree.
‘There is no affection between us, and I am always on my own. I just want to be loved. I can’t keep going on like this. They are really expecting me to just say nothing and keep going? How do I do that?!’
Despite her growing sadness towards Charles’ affair, she continued to dance, ensuring it not get in the way.
Anne writes that Diana wanted nothing more than her husband to see what she was ‘capable’ of and to be ‘proud’ of her.
However, as the Princess of Wales graduated from plain leotards and ballet shoes to colorful outfits and jazz shoes, her issues outside of the studio only grew.
Following a lesson, Diana dropped onto the floor and couldn’t contain herself, tears began flowing out of her and pure sadness took over her body.
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Now, the ballet pro that guided Diana through her most difficult years has released an explosive memoir titled, Dancing With Diana (Seen dancing with John Travolta in 1985)
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The Princess of Wales (seen in 1997) had previously told her dance teacher about her husband and her desperate desire to make him happy
The dance teacher recalled that Diana cried: ‘I just don’t know what to do, Anne. I find myself in an unbearable situation. I haven’t seen Charles for weeks and he doesn’t want to talk to me. I thought he come back to me, and we could work things out. How do I go on when I’m not wanted?’
Despite her heartache at the situation, Diana felt like she had to hold on to Charles – desperately clinging to the hope that her husband would come back to her.
Anne said that Diana felt she had no other choice but to stay with him as she didn’t want to break up her family or have her sons, William and Harry, see their love story come to an end.
‘Keeping my family together is the most important thing to me,’ Diana added, according to Anne.
During each of their lessons, the Princess of Wales repeatedly told her dance instructor of her heartache and her frantic attempts to make Charles happy.
She once told Anne that she had set up a picnic in Charles’ favorite garden in hopes that the two of them would have some alone time to rekindle their love affair.
However, when he saw the table outside, he dropped Diana’s hand and demanded a butler take everything inside because he ‘doesn’t eat outside,’ Anne recalled.
The Princess explained that although the pair put on a loved-up display for the press, they were becoming unhappier each day.
‘We manage to put on a good official front, but it’s getting more and more difficult, as I find it very hard to not show how I feel if I am upset. Charles seems to want us to lead separate lives. Anne, he runs off to Camilla whenever he can. It’s not at all what I want,’ the instructor recalled Diana as saying in her memoir.
‘I’d the marriage to work, but it just isn’t for now. Do I just put up with it, hoping he will change?
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According to Anne, Diana said the ‘establishment’ found her difficult before revealing that her husband had been having an affair (Diana and Charles seen dancing in 1988)
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During each of their lessons, the Princess of Wales repeatedly told her dance instructor of her heartache and her frantic attempts to make Charles happy
‘All I want is to be with Charles and be loved by him, there’s just emptiness now.’
She also described the moment she confronted Camilla at a 1980s party.
Diana explained that while mingling, she noticed Camilla and Charles were missing so she went upstairs.
She found the pair chatting in a room along with another group of men.
The Princess of Wales asked everyone – including Charles – to exit the room so she could have a word with Camilla.
According to Anne, Diana told her: ‘Camilla, I’d just like you to know that I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on between you and Charles and I just want you to know that.’
Camilla apparently replied: ‘You’ve got everything you’ve ever wanted. All the men in the world fall in love with you. You’ve got two beautiful children. What more could you want?’
‘I want my husband,’ the Princess said, according to Anne.
Following her exchange with Camilla, Diana told Anne that she had confronted her husband’s mistress.
‘I did it, I did it, Anne! I feel a tremendous shift, Anne, in myself,’ she said, her instructor wrote in her memoir.
Anne wrote that the Princess of Wales had revealed that she and Charles had driven home together from the party and that ‘he was all over me like a little boy who has done something wrong and is wanting back in your good books.’
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Diana and Charles announced their separation on December 9, 1992, after having been married for 15 years (Diana and Camilla seen in 1980)
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Although Diana’s (seen with Charles in 1981) love life was heavy on her mind, her dance instructor revealed that it wasn’t the only thing that weighed on her
However, the joy was only temporary, and Diana and Charles announced their separation on December 9, 1992, after having been married for 15 years.
Although Diana’s love life was heavy on her mind, her dance instructor revealed that it wasn’t the only thing that weighed on her.
The daily pressure from the Royal Family, her duties as a Princess and the constant attention from the press had drove her to develop an eating disorder.
She had previously told Anne that the press had been tormenting her – adding that she never felt good in enough while in the public eye.
‘I feel sure they are all just waiting on me to make more mistakes,’ Diana explained, according to Anne.
And as the attention surrounding her failed marriage grew, Anne said she noticed Diana had becoming worrisomely thin.
One day, the Princess broke down as she admitted she had been suffering from bulimia, an eating disorder in which people make themselves throw up the food they eat.
‘I am so ashamed, Anne, but I need to tell you that I suffer from bulimia. I am so sorry I haven’t been able to admit it to you, until now,’ she said, according to Anne.
The Princess of Wales revealed that her eating disorder began when she started to attend important dinners.
She was so nervous that she couldn’t keep her food down. When the evening ended, she would go home and throw up.
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The daily pressure from the Royal Family, her duties as a Princess and the constant attention from the press had drove her to develop an eating disorder (Diana and Charles in 1981)
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Princess Diana (seen in 1997) died after a tragic car accident. She was just 36 years old at the time of her passing
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Eight years after her death, Charles – who is now the King of England – married Camilla (seen in 2024)
Diana explained that meeting people and striving to be so perfect overwhelmed her so that she would often resort to making herself throw up in an effort to ’empty herself’ of her food and emotions.
Anne supported Diana through her journey to healing, becoming increasingly angry when she thought about whether the ‘establishment’ knew about this.
Anne and Diana’s working relationship came to an end in 1989, when Anne moved to Scotland.
Although their contact faded over the years, Anne was devastated to hear about her friend’s tragic death in 1997.
She revealed that she was attending a work event in Toronto when she heard of Diana’s death on the news.
Anne wrote: ‘Her life ended on August 31, 1997. Like the rest of the world, I was in total shock. My first cohesive thoughts were of William and Harry. How do you tell two young people that they are never going to see their mother again? I sobbed for them. I also wept for Charles, who would suffer deeply, regardless of the divorce. The circumstances of the death were horrendous.
‘On the day of her funeral, I joined millions of other people from around the world in watching the service and procession on television.
‘Afterwards, I held my own private vigil at home, surrounding myself with candles, flowers, and Diana’s dance photos and letters.’
Princess Diana died after a tragic car accident. She was just 36 years old at the time of her passing.
Eight years after her death, Charles – who is now the King of England – married Camilla.
