How Princess Diana Almost Ended Up Starring in a Kevin Costner Movie

After her divorce from then-Prince Charles, Princess Diana apparently had the opportunity to pivot into a career as an actress—how the late royal felt about that opportunity is still a matter of debate though.

The roots of this story go back to the 1990s. After the massive success of the 1992 movie The Bodyguard, starring Whitney Houston as massively-successful actress and singer and Kevin Costner as her protective bodyguard, Costner considered making a sequel to the film. In The Bodyguard 2, Costner's character would be tasked with protecting a princess plagued by stalkers and paparazzi.

If sounds like art imitating life, that's very intentional—Costner opened up about developing the project with Diana in mind in an interview on The Howard Stern Show in 2024, claiming that he connected with the royal through her one-time sister-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

"I said, 'Look, I'm going to do Bodyguard 2 and I think I can build this around you. Would you be interested?'" he remembered saying to Diana during the conversation (per Good Morning America). "And she said … she goes, 'Yes.'"

According to GMA, the actor said that his chat with Diana took place in 1996, when the late Princess of Wales was preparing to officially divorce Charles. Costner claimed that Diana told him she was looking to trying something new—and that included an onscreen kissing scene with him, apparently.

"She goes, 'My life's about to change,'" he said of their talk. "She said, 'Is there going to be a kissing scene?' And I said, 'Do you want there to be one?' And she said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'Then we'll do that.'"

While the kissing scene never came to be, Costner went on to claim that, years later, he had a chance to chat with Diana's oldest son, Prince William, who seemed to confirm the actor was one of her her celebrity crushes.

"He looked at me and he said, 'My mom fancied you,'" Costner said. "And it was the sweetest, gentlest thing."

After Diana's tragic death in a car accident in 1997, Costner scrapped the project entirely. "I never made that movie because I could not replace Princess Di," he told Stern during the 2024 interview.

While Costner claims make it sound like Diana was very much on board with the idea of transitioning into acting, others close to the late princess have said she was flattered by the offer, but never seriously considered saying yes.

In his latest book, The Royal Insider, Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, addressed the royal's private reaction to the idea of starring in The Bodyguard sequel.

"She was approached to appear in The Bodyguard II alongside Kevin Costner," Burrell wrote (per The Daily Mail). "I put the call from Mr. Costner through to her in the sitting room and heard fits of giggles with her saying, 'But I can't sing! What would I be expected to do? I'm not sure but yes, OK, send it and I promise I will have a look.'"

Burrell said in the book that Diana discussed the call with Costner with him directly afterwards, confirming the actor's claim that he did in fact connect with the royal to discuss the project.

"She told me at the end of the call that he had offered her the lead role in a follow-up to the smash hit which had starred Whitney Houston as the lead," Burrell wrote. "She was to play a princess and Kevin would be her bodyguard and save her life. He promised it would be tastefully done and he would look after her."

Burrell's account differs from Costner's when it comes to Diana's reaction, however, as Burrell insists she never seriously considered taking the role.

"Diana chuckled. 'He was so charming but he cannot be serious,'" Burrell shared. "But he was extremely serious, and the script arrived for The Bodyguard II. I'm not sure that she ever read it but she was flattered. She politely declined the opportunity, saying, 'It is entirely impossible.'"