Kurt Russell has revealed that he loaned Princess Diana his Colorado ranch so she could escape the paparazzi.
The seemingly random offer came after the two met a Hollywood film premiere in 1991.
The Hateful Eight star and husband of actress Goldie Hawn shared his royal encounter on Network Ten’s The Project last night, and it was a little more awkward than he expected.
“I met her with Prince Charles, it was a screening of Backdraft, a movie,” he explained, “I was in between the two, kind of interesting at the time! They weren’t getting along great.”
Russell goes on to explain how Diana confided in him about her struggle for privacy.
“We talked about the paparazzi and the difficulty she had going different places and stuff so I said, well, if you ever get a chance you know come over to the ranch, we’ve got a good long driveway and it’s hard for the paparazzi to get in there so maybe you’d like to do that,” he said.
Princess Diana arriving at the Backdraft film premiere in London, 1991.
Princess Diana eventually took Russell up on his offer in 1995, one year before her divorce from Prince Charles, staying at the ranch for 10 days with her two sons, princes William and Harry.
Kurt and Goldie have used the ranch near Aspen, which they’ve owned for more than 25 years, as their own little escape from the bustle of Hollywood.
Princess Diana with her two sons Princes William and Harry
While the couple didn’t get to spend any quality time with the royal brood, it was a different story for their housekeeper.
“Our housekeeper Bonnie became very close with her and every Christmas she’d get a nice card from Diana,” says Kurt.
