Elton John says 'flirty' Diana brought Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone to blows as both tried to woo her at a party
Princess Diana had caused quite a stir at a party Elton John threw for the head of Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, while they were working on 'The Lion King'.
In his new autobiography 'Me', John claims that Hollywood royalties of the time, Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone, had almost come to blows over her affections at the party hosted by him and husband David Furnish.
According to John, Katzenberg had begged him to invite Diana to the party which took place not long after her separation from Prince Charles.
Gere and Stallone were among the super-famous invitees alongside George Michael, Richard Curtis and his wife Emma Freud.
While a newly-single Diana was "very taken" with Richard Gere, who had recently separated from Cindy Crawford, Sly, who had allegedly attended the party with the sole intention of meeting and romancing Diana, was having none of that.
In 'Me', which has been serialized by Daily Mail, John says Diana and Gere at one point got cozy in front of the fireplace. "They ended up sitting in front of the fireplace together, locked in rapt conversation," recalls John, adding how the Sly's energy did not go unnoticed by the rest of the room.
"As the rest of us chatted, I couldn't help notice a strange atmosphere in the room. Judging by the kind of looks he kept shooting at them, Diana and Richard Gere's newly blossoming friendship was not going down well with Sylvester Stallone at all."
Things came to a head at suppertime when Furnish went to call Sly and Gere for dinner, only to find them sizing each other up. "It transpired that David discovered Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere in the corridor, squaring up to each other, apparently about to settle their differences over Diana by having a fist-fight... He'd managed to calm things down by pretending he hadn't noticed what was going on—'Hey, guys! Time for dinner!'—but Sylvester clearly still wasn't happy."
Sly, who was shown the door by Furnish and John at the end of the party, apparently said, "I never would have come If I'd known Prince f***in' Charming was gonna be here," adding, "f I'd wanted her, I would've taken her!"
Diana, who had no idea about what had transpired between the two men, continued to have a seemingly good time with Gere.
'Me: Elton John Official Autobiography' by Elton John will be published by Macmillan on October 15.