Princess Diana Is Remembered as ‘Down to Earth’ and ‘Humble’ By Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford
In 1995, few women on the planet were more recognizable than England’s Princess Diana and supermodel Naomi Campbell. Add fashion icons Claudia Schiffer and Christy Turlington to the mix, and you’ve got a birthday party nobody’s likely to forget. That’s exactly what happened when Princess Diana convinced the three beauties (and a royal baker) to help celebrate her eldest son’s 13th birthday.
Prince William’s surprise from Princess Diana
Turning 13 is a big deal anywhere, but in Kensington Palace on June 21, 1995, the occasion was exceptionally brilliant. Noting that her then 12-year old son displayed posters of supermodels on his bedroom wall, Princess Diana arranged to invite high fashion icons Schiffer, Turlington, and Campbell to the palace to celebrate Prince William‘s first birthday as a teenager.
Not only did the princess amaze her newly-teenage son with a bevy of beauties, but she also ordered a cheeky cake to be baked in the shape of a pair of enormous breasts. Darren McGrady, the former royal chef, recounted finding the buxom bakery treat chilling in the refrigerator on the morning of Will’s birthday, noting how “the Princess loved embarrassing people in the nicest way, in a fun way.”
Naomi Campbell reminisces the birthday
On April 6, 2020, Campbell and fellow supermodel Cindy Crawford reminisced about Will’s birthday bash on the former’s YouTube show, No Filter with Naomi. Campbell explained to an audience of more than 300,000 how the princess enlisted her help to deliver an afternoon surprise to the young prince:
“He was coming home from school. And we had gotten there before he had gotten home from school and Princess Diana was like, ‘OK.’ So we were just like, ‘What do we do?’ I mean, it was so sweet.”
Campbell vocalized her affection for the late Princess Diana. “Loved Princess Diana, I just loved her. Humble, how down-to-earth and I’m just blessed to know her for the time that I did,” commented Campbell.
In 2019, The Frisky counted Campbell among the late princess’s closest famous friends. The article recapped Prince William’s birthday party event and offered his personal description of what it felt like to come home after school to discover a trio of supermodels standing at the top of the stairs:
“I went bright red and didn’t quite know what to say and sort of fumbled. I think I pretty much fell down the stairs on the way up. I was completely and utterly sort of awestruck.”
Princess Diana was kind and humble, says another model
During the recently streamed No Filter with Naomi conversation, Crawford explained that when she was invited by the princess to visit Kensington Palace a couple of years after Prince William’s embarrassing 13th birthday bash, Princess Diana opened the door for her as if she were visiting a friend’s house. Crawford agreed with Campbell’s estimation of the princess as friendly, down to earth, and humble.
“I feel like she was in jeans and like a cashmere sweater and almost that vibe of being super laid back.”
Born in London on May 22, 1970, and discovered by a fashion house talent scout when she was a teenager, Campbell has spent a lifetime hobnobbing with countless celebs, designers, show biz personalities, and heads of state over the course of her illustrious career as one of the world’s best-known black fashion models. None of those notable persons impressed the statuesque beauty more with their humility and approachability more the late Lady Diana Spencer, however.
Before winding up her recent YouTube conversation with Crawford, Campbell said that she loved Diana and gave one last lovely reminiscence of the woman known as the people’s princess, describing her as humble and down to earth while noting that she was ‘just blessed’ to know her for the time that she did.
