Prince Harry Jokingly Calls out John Travolta 40 Years After Dancing With Princess Diana

Prince Harry spoke at an awards ceremony on Friday where he made a surprising joke about John Travolta’s past with his mother, Princess Diana. Prince Harry was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame at the Aviation Awards in Beverly Hills, and the event was hosted by Travolta. Travolta referenced a 1985 event where he danced with Princess Diana, and Prince Harry took the bait.

Princess Diana and John Travolta danced together at the White House nearly three decades ago, and the photos of them together made headlines. Travolta actually just shared the details on that experience in his own words back in 2021 for a PBS special, and he has referenced it in public a few times since then. On Friday, Travolta, the “Official Ambassador of Aviation,” referenced it again knowing Prince Harry was in the room, according to a report by PEOPLE. A fan account posted a clip of Prince Harry’s speech later in the night where he responded, though the video has since been deleted.

“This is nice,” the Duke of Sussex said to laughter from the audience. “Thank you, Captain John. Don’t go running away. I was one year old when you danced with my mom.” The prince joked that by now, Travolta had “told everybody here” his story and would continue “dining out on that.” He continued: “But look at us now, it’s great! So if we’re not going to dance together, we’ll fly together.”

All in all, witnesses said it was a sweet full-circle moment for Travolta and a natural way for him to meet Princess Diana’s son. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe told Hello Magazine that it was “very touching and sweet,” adding: “It was the cutest, most touching moment and it’s a moment of history and I love it – it was beautiful to watch.”

For those unfamiliar, Travolta shared the full story of his 1985 dance with Princess Diana in the PBS special “In Their Own Words: Diana, Princess of Wales.” He began: “I got a call from the White House to invite me to meet the British royal family with other celebrities, so I went with a very humble attitude that I was an extra in a room of very important people.” The documentary included a clip from that event where a reporter asked Travolta if he’d like to dance with the pricess. Travolta smiled and said: “If she’d like me to.”

“About 10 o’clock at night, Nancy Reagan tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘The princess, her fantasy is to dance with you Would you dance with her tonight?’” Travolta recounted. “And I said, ‘Well, of course. How does this work?’ And she said, ‘Well, at about midnight I’ll come and get you and then I’ll lead you over to her and then you ask her to dance.’” Travolta said his heart was racing as he approached the princess. He said: “She looked up at me and I said, ‘Would you care to dance with me?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ I took her and the whole room cleared. We danced for what felt like 15 minutes.”

You can stream “In Their Own Words” on the PBS website or on Prime Video or iTunes, but you’ll need to rent or purchase it. The Aviation Awards were not televised, but some clips are circulating online.