The weight of Princess Diana’s revelations proved too much for her coach to bear

For six years, fitness coach Jenni Rivett was more than just a trainer to Princess Diana; she was her trusted confidante.

Rivett delves into the personal life of the Princess of Wales, sharing insights ranging from her emotional moments to the daily routines she followed as a royal. Through her account, readers are given a unique opportunity to see beyond the public persona and catch a glimpse of the woman beneath the crown.

It was late August in 1997 when Princess Diana handed her trainer, Jenni Rivett, a card marked with her September workout schedule.

Prior to embarking on a vacation to St. Tropez with Dodi Al-Fayed, Diana appeared joyful and optimistic. Anticipating the warmth of the sun, the leisure of the break, and perhaps even the blossoming of a newfound love, the Princess was in high spirits.

But Rivett remembers something else.

According to Jenni’s recollections shared with the Daily Mail, Diana exhibited a mix of excitement and melancholy as she prepared for her getaway. Despite her outgoing nature and delightful sense of humor, there was an underlying sadness that seemed to shadow her spirits, hinting at the complexities of her inner world.

Diana would never return from that trip. Her death in a car crash days later shocked the world and shattered those who knew her best.

Rivett, on holiday in Turkey at the time, received the news in the early hours. “It wasn’t just the loss of a client. It was the loss of someone I cared deeply about,” she shared.

As her marriage to Prince Charles crumbled, so did Diana’s emotional world.

Between 1991 and 1997, widely known as “the war of the Windsors,” the Princess found refuge in her training sessions. With Rivett, she could be herself.

“Sometimes Diana would tell me things so personal I would ask her: ‘Please don’t say any more because if it ends up in the papers tomorrow, you will think it was me.'”

Though Diana was the most photographed woman on the planet, Rivett recalls someone who craved privacy and authenticity.

The fitness coach said, “She didn’t want this life. She didn’t want any of it. All she ever wanted was to be a good wife and mother.”

Rivett also said Diana would have been heartbroken over the current rift between Prince William and Prince Harry. She noted, “Diana loved her boys; they were everything to her. She would have been devastated at what is going on between them today.”

When Diana first met Rivett at the Harbour Club in Chelsea, she bounced into the room and joked, “Now, what can you do with this body?”

That openness defined their relationship.

Diana trained three times a week, loved “Step” aerobics, and focused heavily on posture and core strength. “With Diana, it was all about the technique. She liked to get things right,” Rivett shared.

She was hands-on too, often spotting gym-goers doing exercises wrong and asking Rivett to correct them. When they weren’t inside, Diana loved rollerblading in Kensington Gardens, wearing a baseball cap in a mostly futile attempt to avoid paparazzi.

In fact, it was Diana’s idea to wear the same sweatshirt, a blue Virgin Atlantic one, so that photographers wouldn’t make money off new images.

That sweatshirt, later gifted to Rivett, sold at auction for over £40,000. Rivett donated the money to help her gardener’s son go to school. She revealed, “I wanted it to mean something. Diana would have liked that.”

Rivett remembers Diana as warm and nurturing.

When she became pregnant in 1993, Diana gave her a cardigan and a heartfelt card that read, “Something small for your bundle should it arrive whilst I am away, Love Diana.”

Rivett would sometimes bring her daughter Kirsti to workouts at Kensington Palace. William and Harry would fuss over who got to hold the baby, though Diana wasn’t afraid to scold them when they disrupted sessions.

The Princess loved ballet, stretching at the barre, and doing cardio on the elliptical. She even asked Rivett to teach her to rollerblade.

In 1995, the tabloids dubbed her “Princess of Wheels” after a set of sneaky photos hit the press.

“She had this youthful energy and curiosity,” Rivett said. “And even as she evolved into a global humanitarian icon, she never stopped being real.”