Dances with Diana: My secret lessons with the princess
In 1981 Anne Allan, a Scottish ballerina, received an unexpected request. Could she teach Diana, the Princess of Wales to dance?
Scottish ballerina, Anne Allan first fell in love with dancing when she was eight-years-old. She earnt a scholarship at the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London and by 1981 was working as a professional dancer and mistress at the London City Ballet.
In September of that year, a few months after Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's royal wedding, Anne was putting her daughter to bed when she received a phone call. The voice on the other end had an unusual request for Anne - could she give Diana, the Princess of Wales dance classes?
It was to be the beginning of almost a decade of secret dance lessons between the pair and what started out as private weekly classes, soon turned into a special friendship, with the dance studio becoming a sanctuary for the young princess.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Main Image: Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta at the White House, 9 November 1985. Photo by Pete Souza / The White House via Getty Images)
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