Rare Letter By Princess Diana Reveals What She Dreamed Of Becoming, Heads To Auction

A handwritten letter from Lady Diana Spencer, when she was 17, revealed that she dreamed of becoming a professional dancer. The letter was penned on February 1, 1979 and was addressed to family friend Mildred Lacy, The Telegraph reported. "I am off to find a place to dance. I have always wanted to and hope one day to get somewhere with it," Diana wrote. It was written just over a year before Diana's life changed forever, and she began dating Prince Charles. The letter offers a rare glimpse into the hopes and dreams of young Diana.

It was a thank-you letter for Mildred Lacy, who had written to Diana's father, John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, to wish him a speedy recovery from a stroke. With her father unable to respond, Diana wrote on his behalf: "Thank you so much for writing to Daddy. As he cannot do it himself, he asked me to write and tell you how grateful he was. We have all been so lucky and everyone has helped us no end which we are eternally thankful. Soon he will come home which will be amazing after all these months."

Mentioning her younger brother Charles, she wrote, "He is loving boarding school and is now very tall and grown up."

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Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, was passionate about ballet from childhood. She had taken lessons from an early age, won a school dancing competition in 1976 after practising for hours at Althorp House, and told biographer Andrew Morton: "It always released tremendous tension in my head."

But at 5'10", Diana was considered too tall for classical ballet and professional companies at the time rarely cast women her height, citing difficulties with male partners for lifts and traditional routines. A leg injury also ended her hopes.

The letter is now being offered for sale and expected to fetch 4,000 pounds (around $5,409) at Chiswick Auctions.

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Diana's famous dance moment

Her most famous dance moment came in December 1985 at the White House, when she took to the floor with John Travolta. That same year, she secretly rehearsed for weeks with dancer Wayne Sleep to surprise Charles at a Royal Opera House gala. The pair performed a short routine to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl".