On 31 August, the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis revealed that she had a near encounter with the People’s Princess. Months later, she passed away.
The near-exchange happened while filming Fierce Creatures, the follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, at Pinewood Studios in England. Jamie Lee explains that she had stepped away from the set, and on her return discovered that she had missed the princess. Diana had been visiting the set with her young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
“By the time I got back, she was walking away, and I wasn’t going to chase her to tell her how much I admired her,” Jamie Lee recalls.
Although they never met in person, Jamie Lee decided to write Diana a letter expressing her admiration.
“The next day I received one back from her, thanking me for writing and understanding… and that she looked forward to meeting,” she says.
Tragically, Diana passed away just two months later.
Princess Diana was well known for writing letters, frequently penning thank you notes, condolences and personal correspondence to friends, charities and individuals.
In February 2023, a collection of 32 letters written by Princess Diana between 1994 and 1997 was auctioned by Lay’s Auctioneers, fetching £145,550. These letters, described as “highly personal” and “confidential,” were sent to her close friends Susie and Tarek Kassem during the last two years of her life.
And in December 2024, a collection of royal memorabilia, including letters and handwritten notes from Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Charles, was sold for over £12,000 at Hansons Auctioneers. The items were originally in the possession of Alan Maxwell, a photographer who assisted the royal family with Christmas cards and other photo needs for decades.
In June 2025, the largest Princess Diana auction ever took place and included a personal letter revealing her loneliness two days after her wedding to Prince Charles.
Following the news of her death, Jamie Lee reflected on Diana’s impact and life. Inspired by a meditation book she had been reading, Jamie Lee considered two questions that people who live mindfully ask themselves at the end of life: Did I learn to live wisely? Did I love well? Jamie Lee says Diana embodied both.
“She talked about her own personal struggles, and demonstrated courage and compassion — whether it was reaching out to a young man with HIV/AIDS or walking through a minefield,” Curtis says. “She loved her sons in a way no royal ever had, and she really loved the world.”
For Curtis, the memory of that near encounter and Diana’s graciousness continues to resonate. “I’m comforted knowing she lived a mindful, wise, loving life,” she reflects.
Read her full statement below:
I once almost met Princess Diana. She was to visit the set of the follow up to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures, and we were shooting at Pinewood deep into the forest there. When we finally took a break, I jumped in a golf cart and drove the mile back to the dressing room block to use the restroom. My driver started banging on the door, saying that she had arrived with her sons and I jumped into the golf cart and by the time I got back, she was walking away and I wasn’t going to chase her to tell her how much I admired her.
The next day I wrote a letter saying why I wasn’t there and how much I admired her and had it delivered to Kensington Palace and the next day I received one back from her, thanking me for writing and understanding, of course, nature calling as it happens to her all the time and that she looked forward to meeting. She died two months later. I had just returned from England. I remember watching the news and then turning it off knowing what the news would do and the recurring shots of that tunnel. Next to my bed was a book on insight meditation by Jack Kornfeld and Joseph Goldstein. I picked it up and in the first pages it talked about how people who tried to live a mindful life, at the time of their death really asked themselves two questions.
Did I learn to live wisely? Did I love well?
I immediately thought about Princess Diana and her learning to live wisely. How she got out of that bullsh*t sham contract of a marriage and how she talked about her own personal issues and demonstrated courage and compassion, putting her hand on the leg of the young man with HIV/AIDS and walking in the minefield. I certainly thought that she had learned to live wisely. And I think we all remember the image of her with her arms outstretched after being away from her sons as they ran toward her. She loved them in a way a royal person never had and she really loved the world and so she did love well and even though that day, this day, I’m still moved by her and her grace and courage, I’m also comforted in knowing that she lived a mindful wise, loving life.
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