Princess Diana Once Took Things Into Her Own Hands to Help Woman During Secret Flight With Bodyguard

Princess Diana's empathy-driven actions are well known among the royal family's fans and followers. While many stories speak volumes about this quality of hers, not many are aware that the Princess once helped out a lone mom during her secret flight. The unheard anecdote was shared by Carrie Lloyd, whose father, Tony Lloyd, worked with the late Princess of Wales. As the director of The Leprosy Mission, of which Diana was a patron, he shared this heartwarming story with his daughter while recalling Diana's inclination toward children. 

Then, during a recent episode of the Storia Podcast, Carrie shared this story with everyone. "There was someone just behind the curtain with a baby crying and screaming, and you could tell this mother was just on her own," she said. Diana who was in the first class area of the flight "was looking through the crack in the window, and she turns to Ken, her bodyguard, and says, 'Please Ken, can I just go back there and go and help her?' And he says, 'No ma’am, you really cannot go through. No one knows you're on this flight.'"

Disappointed after speaking with the bodyguard, Diana sought an opinion on the situation from Llyod who said, "Well, I don’t really see why there would be a problem." As such, eventually, the Princess rushed to the rescue of the new mum right after the nod. The moment the British royal family member moved past the passengers, Llyod recalled he 'just saw these faces, kind of wide-eyed, at who just come through.' As the Princess met the anguished mom she asked, "Can I help you for a minute? I’ve got more room up there."

Adding on, Carrie said in the podcast, "Diana took the baby, went behind the curtain. Five minutes later, just walking up and down, just nursing this baby, [who] fell straight to sleep." "Handed the baby back over to the mother, who was now crying her eyes out by this point. And Diana turned and said, 'It happens to the best of us.'" According to People, Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group who was also responsible for booking flights for Lady Diana, acknowledged the anecdote by commenting, "Lovely story and memories, thanks for sharing."

In a previous post on her social media, Carrie had mentioned how Diana was related to her father professionally. "My late father was Diana’s charity advisor and director of The Leprosy Mission, one of the six charities that she held patronage to until her death. Rumor has it that she continued in the role because she trusted the confidentiality of my father’s friendship," she said. 

In another snippet, Carrie recalled how the Princess helped in warding off the stigma around leprosy patients. The Princess was inspired by the words of Mother Teresa who told her that the loneliest people present back then were the leprosy patients. Diana went to the local rehab hospital and took off her gloves as the paparazzi followed her. As she walked in she touched all the patients compassionately and wished them a healthy recovery. No doubt, the people's princess had a charm and wit of no match!