Naomi Campbell on Working with Princess Diana to Surprise a Teenage Prince William: 'It Was So Sweet'
From high-profile photoshoots, to global fashion shows and star-studded red carpets, Naomi Campbell has had countless memorable experiences throughout her modeling career. But there’s one extra-special moment that she’ll never forget: helping Princess Diana organize a supermodel surprise for Prince William‘s birthday as a teen.
“I went with [fellow ’90s supermodels] Claudia [Schiffer] and Christy [Turlington],” Campbell, 49, told Cindy Crawford during a No Filter with Naomi live chat on YouTube. “And he was coming home from school. And we had gotten there before he had gotten home from school and Princess Diana was like, ‘Okay.’ So we were just like, ‘What do we do?’ I mean, it was so sweet.”
While Campbell said she visited Prince William when he was around 13 or 14, Crawford, 54, said she visited him at Kensington Palace as well a few years later.
“Did he blush when you met him?” Campbell asked. “I think he was 16 when I met him,” Crawford replied.
Crawford continued: “I don’t remember but look I was blushing. I was so intimidated meeting Princess Diana and being at Kensington Palace and just how completely down-to-earth she was because there’s so much protocol I guess, and not being English, I don’t understand some of it.”
Naomi/YouTube
Then Campbell asked, “Did she open the door for you?”
Crawford replied saying she “thinks so” and said Princess Diana made her feel so welcome, it was like “going to a friend’s house.” She added: “I feel like she was in jeans and like a cashmere sweater and almost that vibe of being super laid back. So I also was probably a little, I mean it was uncomfortable, but it was sweet. It was a very sweet day and a great memory.”
Campbell went on to say how much she loved having the opportunity to get to know Princess Diana too. “Loved Princess Diana, I just loved her. Humble, how down-to-earth and I’m just blessed to know her for the time that I did,” the star said.
In the 2017 ITV and HBO documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Prince William revealed that he turned “bright red” when his mom set up a birthday surprise that involved the very famous supermodels.
“When I came home from school [she organized] to have Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell waiting at the top of the stairs,” William recalled in the clip. “I was probably 12 or 13 year old boy who had posters of them on his wall.”
“And I went bright red and didn’t quite know what to say and sort of fumbled,” he continued. “I think I pretty much fell down the stairs on the way up. I was completely and utterly sort of awestruck.”
“That’s lived with me forever about her loving and embarrassing and sort of, you know being — being the sort of the joker,” he added.
