Prince William reveals Princess Diana's movie star crush

Prince William dropped a bombshell on one movie star he couldn't wait to meet when he told him that his mum, the late Princess Diana, had a crush on him. Dances With Wolves and Bodyguard star Kevin Costner said that the future king told him during a private meeting.

The 69 year old star had been visiting England at the time, when William requested an audience with him and Kevin naturally jumped at the chance. Recalling the surreal meeting in a new interview, Kevin told PEOPLE: "I happened to be in England, and I got this message that the prince would love to talk, and I said, 'What?'... and then I went, 'Okay,' “

What followed was a warm and friendly meeting, in which the Prince blindsided the star after revealing a little known detail about his own mother, the late Princess Diana. "We met in this room, and it was just us," explained Kevin. "He walked up, and we shook hands... The first line out of his mouth was, 'You know, my mum kind of fancied you.’”

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The unexpected confession that the Princess of Wales had harboured a secret crush on the star certainly took the actor by surprise, but it also curiously followed on from an earlier encounter with Diana, in which he had invited her to collaborate on a sequel to his 1992 film The Bodyguard.

"There was a moment that that was really flying down the tracks, very quietly, because it's how I operate," says Costner, yet the fateful meeting itself wasn’t the only royal connection he held with the royals, as it was actually Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York that introduced the pair in the first place!

Cheerfully recalling the experience, Kevin added: ”It was so sweet. Sarah was the one that set this up. Sarah was very cool... when she could have been going, 'Well, I’m a princess too. What about me?' She didn’t do that at all. Diana and I began to talk."

The surprising royal connection is just one of several standout moments in Kevin’s life, with the star even describing its trajectory so far as both “incredibly unusual” and “for the most part, beautiful.” For over 40 years, the talented actor has been a staple of the Hollywood movie scene, with 2 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes, and 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards among his many accolades.

In addition to his impressive acting career, Kevin is also a devoted father to his seven children, however he is currently believed to be single following the finalisation of his divorce from second wife Christine Baumgartner earlier this year.