{"id":254300,"date":"2026-05-01T18:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254300\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T18:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:30:09","slug":"friday-flashback-to-when-princess-diana-came-to-town-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254300\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Flashback to when Princess Diana came to town \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

King Charles\u2019 state visit to Washington, D.C., this week reminded us another royal visit much closer to home that generated much more attention. It was when Charles\u2019 estranged wife, Princess Diana, came to Orlando.<\/p>\n

Diana, with her prince sons William, 11, and Harry, 8, in tow, spent a magical three days at Walt Disney World in August 1993.<\/p>\n

Locals, visitors and the paparazzi were giddy in seeing the royals frolicking around the Magic Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios \u2013 when they could see them. Disney did a good job of shepherding the family and their friends through back-door entrances to many attractions, the Sentinel reported back then.<\/p>\n

The royals rented out the fifth floor of the Grand Floridian and stayed in a flower-filled $1,450-a-night suite.<\/p>\n

When they arrived at the room, the Sentinel said, \u201ca surprise awaited them in the big-eared form of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who hugged the excited children and greeted the princess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diana, perhaps the most famous woman in the world at the time, tried to blend in with other tourists. \u201cDiana wore no tiara \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t go with her white T-shirt and sunglasses,\u201d the Sentinel said.<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoOrlando Sentinel coverage of Princess Diana’s visit in 1993. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

But commoners had no troubled in quickly identifying her from \u201cthe face that has graced more magazine covers than any model\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was her because of her hair,\u201d said Marilyn Emrick of Orlando, who saw the royals as the family boarded the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. \u201cOne-hundred percent humidity and she still looks good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoOrlando Sentinel coverage of Princess Diana’s visit in 1993. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

As the Sentinel reported back then, \u201cThe three-day royal tour has filled the front pages of London\u2019s tabloids with glowing stories about Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u2018We couldn\u2019t write a better script,\u2019 said Bill Peeper, executive director of the Orlando\/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. \u2018It\u2019s the kind of shot in the arm we need for our image in that market.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HowHow the British press covered Princess Diana’s visit in 1993. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"King Charles\u2019 state visit to Washington, D.C., this week reminded us another royal visit much closer to home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[53370,114,266,115,139,141,140,53371,109],"class_list":["post-254300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-flashbacks","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-sentinel-150","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}