Phil Donahue, who passed away on August 18, shared one of his special moments with the late Princess Diana. During the 2020 interview with Andy Cohen, the TV host sat down with his wife Marlo Thomas and the duo played a game about how many celebrities they had met during their time in the industry. At the time, Donahue recalled having to “fend off” other men to be able to dance with the former Princess of Wales.

During the conversation with Cohen, Thomas recounted that on the night of a charity event the couple attended in 1997, she was asked if her husband could follow in Princess Diana’s footsteps under certain conditions.

The late talk show host’s wife revealed the rules the couple had to follow when meeting the former royal, claiming: “They said, ‘We need a man to dance with Princess Diana and there are three rules.'”

She added: “‘A: he has to be married, B: she has to be in the room, the woman has to be in the room and C: he has to be at least six feet tall, so we would like Phil to be that person.’ So I told Phil and he said, ‘Oh, I don’t want that,’ because Phil is very shy and people don’t notice. But he does.”

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Thomas also said that once the dance began, the two got along really well as they chatted and giggled. She went on to say that she was quite impressed by the princess’s gesture. Later, when Donahue recalled the moments of the evening during his appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, he revealed that he had never taken as many photos as he did when he met the former royal.

On this special evening, Donahue wore a black tuxedo and bow tie. Lady Diana appeared in a blue dress and pearl jewelry. The television star described the People’s Princess as “my dance partner.”

Donahue was a featured personality on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

In a post on her Instagram account, Winfrey paid tribute to the late TV star: “Without Phil Donahue, there would have been no Oprah show. He was the first to prove that talk shows and women’s programs should be taken seriously.” She continued: “He was a pioneer. I’m glad I was able to thank him for that. Rest in peace, Phil.”

The late Phil Donahue leaves behind his wife, sister, children and grandchildren.

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