Princess Diana's former dance teacher is sharing how the late royal found freedom and confidence on the dance floor.
In her new book Dancing With Diana: A Memoir, Anne Allan—a long-time professional dancer and choreographer—opened up about the secret one-to-one dance sessions she had with the late Princess of Wales. The author claims that through movement and dance, Princess Diana was able to free herself from the confines and expectations of both the monarchy and the press.
"(Diana's) head continued to look at the floor. I gently noted that the head was the heaviest part of the body," Allan writes, according to recent reporting from The Spectator. "I wanted her to feel the freedom that dance can give, and she did."
In the book, Allan details her close relationship with Princess Diana, writing that the dance teacher became somewhat of a confidant to the late royal, especially when she was experiencing relationship troubles with her husband, then-Prince Charles.
“I just can’t seem to do anything right when it comes to my husband. I do love him so much and want him to be proud of me, but I don’t think he feels the same way," Allan says Princess Diana told her during one of their private dance lessons, according to an excerpt of the book shared exclusively with People.
According to the book, Allan and Princess Diana met when the late Princess of Wales was a 20-year-old newlywed. Over the nine years the pair met for one-hour secret dance sessions, she allegedly opened up to her dance instructor about her tumultuous marriage.
“I don’t understand why I am not enough for him," she says Diana wondered out loud during one dance instruction. "I think he prefers an older woman.
“I know he is seeing Camilla again," Allan adds, referring to another exchange with Princess Diana. "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, tried to conform to his wishes even though I don’t always agree. There’s no affection between us, and I am always on my own."
In another excerpt shared with The Spectator, Allan details an incident in which Princess Diana allegedly tried to show off to her then-husband, Prince Charles, via a dance performance for his 37th birthday.
"She made her way to Charles, and as she stood before him, I could sense she desperately wanted his approval," Allan writes. "He said ‘Well done, darling’, and turned to talk to someone else."
In addition to highlighting their close relationship, the memoir details the "lack of control Diana had over her own life," The Spectator reports, going on to liken the late Princess of Wale's life to that of a "fly in a web."
It was through dance, Allan claims, that Princess Diana was able to find some semblance of freedom...it was only for an hour at a time.
