The PRINCESS DIANA Only I Knew

THE ROYAL'S PRIVATE BALLET INSTRUCTOR OF NEARLY A DECADE SHARES THE SECRETS OF THEIR FRIENDSHIP

- Louise A. Barile, Gianna Benasillo

When dance instructor and choreographer Anne Allan received a call from Kensington Palace, she thought someone might be playing a joke on her. "They said, "The princess would like to take dance lessons,"" she confides to Closer. "There's a minute of disbelief that this was actually real."

In her new memoir, Dancing With Diana, Anne, a former instructor at the English National Ballet, shares the story of her warm relationship with Diana Spencer, who became her pupil in 1981, the year she married into the royal family. "We found that we could be terribly honest with each other," says Anne. "I think that is what she liked most. No one was standing on ceremony. We could just have a conversation."

In person, Diana was even more beautiful than she photographed. "Her eyes were just a stunning blue," recalls Anne, who adds that the princess also had a natural charisma. "At first, she was just incredibly shy and embarrassed, but you could feel there was also a natural warmth to her. Her kindness had a genuine quality. A magic."