Joan Collins says Princess Diana was ‘very vulnerable’

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Joan Collins has spoken of how affected she was by Princess Diana’s death, and how she felt about the late royal’s experiences.

In an interview with The Observer, the bestselling author and actor described Princess Diana as “an iconic figure” and “a very sweet woman” whom she encountered on a number of occasions.

“At one charity event, she was over-awed by the paparazzi and screaming crowds, so she asked me how I [could] stand all the attention,” she recalled.

“She seemed very vulnerable. I’d also been told 10 days before her death, when I was at this little restaurant in Saint-Tropez, that Diana had just been there with her boyfriend Dodi and her two boys.

“They were laughing and dancing around, like any young family. Hearing how happy she’d been made it all the more tragic.”

In the same interview, Collins spoke about the forthcoming BBC documentary being made about her life, along with her regret at missing out on roles as both Cruella de Vil and Cleopatra.

Meanwhile, Princess Diana has been the subject of numerous onscreen portrayals, including a recent film starring Kristen Stewart, and in Netflix’s hit series The Crown.

In the forthcoming new season, Khalid Abdalla will play her partner, Dodi Fayed, opposite Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.