Why Princess Diana Allegedly Said She Would Never Date Tom Cruise
There's been no end to the fascination around Princess Diana's love life. Even during her unhappy marriage to the then-Prince Charles, the media buzzed around her relationship with army captain James Hewitt. As Vogue noted, in 1986, after the birth of their two sons, Charles returned to his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and Diana began an affair with Hewitt. As Vanity Fair famously wrote of Diana's life, "She has found that it is fun to be the Princess of Wales with two jolly sons, to have anything in the world you want except a besotted husband..." But there was no shortage of other men who were enamored of Diana.
In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced that Diana and Charles were separating, and their divorce was finalized in August 1996, per Vogue. In 1995, Diana went on to date heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. After they broke up, she dated Dodi Fayed; the two died together in the car crash in Paris in August 1997. The tragic end solidified Diana as a beloved icon, so even years after her death, rumors of potential love interests about the princess still circulate.
Princess Diana said Tom Cruise was 'too short' for her
When Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the London premiere for "Top Gun: Maverick," people couldn't stop talking about Tom Cruise and his gentlemanly gesture. He held Catherine's hand as she climbed a flight of stairs on the red carpet, per the Daily Mail, and while many admired his thoughtfulness (where was William with his arm, we might ask?), others mulled over the age-old question: How much can people touch the royals? Prior to the major premiere, William and Catherine were treated to a private viewing of the film by Cruise in March 2022, per The U.S. Sun. The reason for the private viewing? William loved the 1986 original. Not only that, but William had also met Cruise years before.
This event prompted Princess Diana's former chef to jump on Twitter and share a story from the past involving Cruise. "I remember Princess Diana taking the boys to the set of Mission Impossible and to meet Tom Cruise," former chef to the royal family, Darren McGrady, tweeted. "Wills and Harry loved the pyrotechnics. But Princess Diana... 'That's another one off the list Darren. He's too short!'" For the record, Diana was 5-foot-10, while Cruise is 5-foot-7. Obviously, this was too much of a disparity for the princess.
Princess Diana found Tom Cruise 'extremely fanciable'
Despite their height difference, Princess Diana allegedly had a little crush on Tom Cruise. (It was the early '90s! Who didn't?) She met the actor and his then-wife Nicole Kidman in 1992 at the London premiere for "Far and Away," per People. In her biography, "Diana: The Intimate Portrait," Judy Wade, wrote that Diana found Cruise "extremely fanciable."
This was backed up by Chef Darren McGrady, who told Express that Diana was very excited about meeting Cruise and even planned on whipping out a few jokes. McGrady said he and the princess discussed how princes William and Harry would like to see Cruise, and then the chef quoted Diana saying, "Darren I'll crack the funnies."
Wade went on to explain that Kidman wasn't too fond of Diana because of Diana's apparent admiration of Cruise and that Kidman was threatened by the princess' star power and charisma. "Well, that explains why Nicole Kidman turned down roles with Diana every time and wasn't happy that her best friend Naomi Watts accepted," Wade added (via TheThings). "Nicole continues to hold a grudge, even though she divorced Tom, and the woman who posed a threat died." Whether Kidman was truly threatened by Diana or not, she and Cruise attended Diana's funeral years later, per People, at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997.