Princess Diana’s Personal Trainer Revealed What She Didn’t Know She Was Supposed to Do Every Time She Saw the Royal
It’s no secret that when she was alive Princess Diana enjoyed exercising and hitting the gym. She also worked with a couple of personal trainers and they have revealed what it was like training the Princess of Wales. One of those trainers, Jenni Rivett, is admitting that she worked with the mother of two for several years but for most of that time wasn’t aware of a rule she was supposed to follow every time she saw Diana.
Here’s what that was and what she said the princess told her about it.
How Rivett became Princess Diana’s personal trainer
Rivett is a South African fitness coach who was based in the U.K. and training with one of Princess Diana’s best friends, Julia Samuel, when she got a call in the early ’90s about training the royal.
According to Insider, Diana had heard about Rivett not only from Samuel but also at dinner parties from other people who raved about working with her. The princess decided to have her butler, Paul Burrell, contact Rivett so she could see what all the fuss was about.
“I just got a phone call one day. It was bizarre,” Rivett recalled to the publication. “It was Paul Burrell from Kensington Palace, and he said, ‘Oh, is that Jenni?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Um, this is Paul Burrell calling from Kensington Palace and her Royal Highness would like to know if she could book an appointment to see you.'”
What Rivett said she didn’t know she was supposed to do when she saw the princess
Rivett said she was “pretty blown away” to get that call but the moment she met Diana they got along really well and she remained her trainer for several years.
“I think we hit it off really well because she liked the fact that I was South African and I didn’t know all the rules,” Rivett said.
In fact, the trainer admitted that she wasn’t aware of any specific royal protocol and the one thing she was supposed to do every time she saw Diana. “I didn’t curtsy to her for four years because I didn’t know I had to,” she said. “Nobody told me.”
Rivett did apologize to Diana for that and remembered that the princess “just laughed and said, ‘Ah, that’s why I love you because you’re South African and, you know, please, you never have to curtsy to me.'”
One of Diana’s other trainers also spoke fondly about working with her
Another personal trainer Cameron Falloon worked with Diana during what would be the last few months of her life. Like Rivett, the Australian fitness coach had fond memories of the princess as well.
Falloon was just 24 years old when he began training one of the world’s most famous women.
“She’d come and train with us in the wee hours, away from the cameras and the [paparazzi],” he explained to the Daily Mail. “She had a forward, rounded posture so we worked on that a lot, but the primary focus was always on keeping her strong and active.”
Falloon described the late royal as “very down to earth” with a “great sense of humor,” before adding: “You instantly felt comfortable, there was never a sense of being in awe. She was always interested in everyone and what we had to say.”
