Barbra Streisand has reflected on an interaction she had with the late Princess Diana in her new memoir.
The book, titled My name is Barbra, was released on Tuesday 7 November and described the moment Diana saved the singer from a potential wardrobe malfunction during the 1992 London premiere of The Prince of Tides.
The movie premiere was also a benefit for the AIDS Crisis Trust. Streisland explained in her memoir how “impressed” she was with the late Princess of Wales’ involvement in the benefit, highlighting her efforts to destigmatise the hateful stereotypes that came with HIV/AIDS at the time.
Diana’s kindness continued into the movie screening as the two sat next to each other at Leicester Square. When the film ended and it was time for everyone to stand up and applaud, Streisand wrote that she stayed still, waiting for Diana to stand up first in order to follow royal protocol.
However, Diana insisted that Streisand should stand up first because she was the director and an actress in the film, according to the memoir. Streisand said the royal even went as far as giving her a “little push” to encourage her to stand - in addition to zipping up the singer’s skirt.
“The zipper on my skirt had come down a bit as I was sitting, and she noticed and quickly started to zip it up for me as I got to my feet,” the Funny Girl star wrote in her book. “When I finally sat down, Diana turned to me and asked: ‘Do you know how wonderful you are?’”
That question caught Streisand off guard, as she recalled that this wasn’t the first time someone had asked her that. Ironically, before her career started 30 years prior to the 1992’s movie’s release, Marilyn Bergman had asked Streisand the same thing at the New York City nightclub Bon Soir.
“I certainly didn’t know it then. Did I know it now? I’m not sure… maybe a little. I thought Diana was wonderful. I wonder if she knew how wonderful she was,” the singer wrote in her memoir.
Her interaction with the late Princess of Wales was not the only interaction Streisand had with a member of the royal family. According to a July 2021 report by The Times, King Charles III had a crush on the singer before he married Diana in 1981.
Charles told the outlet that he found the “The Way We Were” singer “dazzling”. Streisand later went on to confirm their interactions, and revealed Charles had even sent her flowers from Highgrove. “It was so sweet,” Streisand said in an interview with UK presenter Ross King.
“He asked to meet me. So he came to the recording studio,” she shared. “I offered him a sip of tea and I thought: ‘They didn’t have to test me for poison or something? No.’”
She explained that after that, “we became friends, and I loved spending some time at Highgrove for a weekend fundraiser and going through his gardens.”
Later on, Streisand recalled being in a hotel room in London when she noticed flowers sitting in her assistant’s room.
“I said: ‘Who sent me that?’” recalled Streisand, “and she said: ‘A fan called Charles.’ And I said: ‘Really? Let me see the note’ — and there was his seal. And they weren’t from a florist because they were from his gardens and it’s a different look."
