Princess Diana "Kind of Fancied" Kevin Costner, Per William

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published 19 June 2024

Princess Diana, like the rest of us, wasn't above a little celebrity crush.

In a wholesome turn of events, Kevin Costner revealed in a new interview that Prince William once told him his mom "kind of fancied" him.

Speaking to People, Costner recalled how the conversation came about: "I happened to be in England, and I got this message that the prince would love to talk, and I said, 'What?'... and then I went, 'Okay," he explained.

"We met in this room, and it was just us," he continued. "He walked up, and we shook hands... The first line out of his mouth was, 'You know, my mom kind of fancied you.'"

As you can imagine, this exchange was touching for Costner. He called the experience with William, who he said was "quite a young man" at the time, "very sweet."

American actor and film director Kevin Costner, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, and his wife, Cindy Silva, who wears a black off-shoulder outfit and sunglasses, attend the 64th Academy Awards, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center in Los Angeles, California, 30th March 1992. — Kevin Costner with ex-wife Cindy at the 1992 Academy Awards.

But Costner and the late Princess of Wales actually had a friendship IRL, with the actor having previously revealed that Diana was set to appear alongside him in a sequel to the 1992 movie Bodyguard. The princess had apparently been cast "in the same kind of capacity as Whitney [Houston in the first film]," but tragically Diana died before the movie could be made.

Costner told People it was Diana's friend Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who had introduced them. "It was so sweet," he said. "Sarah was the one that set this up. Sarah was very cool... when she could have been going, 'Well, I’m a princess too. What about me?' She didn’t do that at all. Diana and I began to talk."

Recalling this story as well as the rest of his life and career, Costner said, "I’ve had an incredibly unusual, and for the most part, beautiful life." I'll say!

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.