Prince Harry and his late mother, Princess Diana, now both have special connections to John Travolta.
“I was just a 1-year-old when you danced with my mum at the White House and now look at us,” Harry, 39, quipped at the 21st Living Legends of Aviation Awards gala on Friday, January 19, after Travolta, 69, presented him a medal, per social media footage. “The only thing left to do is … not dance together but fly together.”
The Grease star famously shared a dance with Diana, who died in 1997 at the age of 36, during a White House state dinner in 1985. Diana and Travolta had both been guests of then-president Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan before they shared the stage, which Travolta later called “one of the highlights of my life” in a 2016 interview.
“Now I see you again under a new circumstance, on a new stage,” Travolta told Harry on Friday.
Harry was honored as a Living Legend of Aviation for his work in the military. He previously served in the British Army for 10 years and completed two tours of duty before ultimately founding the Invictus Games to support wounded veterans.
“For me, flying has been a transcendent experience,” Harry said in his speech during the Beverly Hills Hilton-held gala. “A close encounter with magic, an invitation to both protect freedom… and to feel free, and, funny enough, an opportunity to ground oneself, without actually being grounded.”
The Duke of Sussex added, “I find my flight training — which was over the course of three years — to be one of life’s greatest lessons. It triggered a vast array of feelings.”
Harry looked dapper in a classic tuxedo as he humbly accepted the aviation honor.
“Congratulations To HRH Prince Harry for his VERY MUCH DESERVED Living Legends of Aviation Award,” Germany’s Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe wrote via Instagram on Friday, sharing a selfie of the two royals.
Harry, the youngest son of Diana and ex-husband King Charles III, stepped down from his duties as a senior working royal in 2020 alongside wife Meghan Markle. The pair settled in Montecito, California, where they are raising their two children: Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
“Harry and Meghan think 2024 will be the year of redemption,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2023, referring to the pair’s estrangement from the royal family and their harrowing car chase last year.
Harry also released his bombshell memoir, Spare, in 2023 about his upbringing and family drama. However, according to the insider, he’s not interested in writing a follow-up.
“Harry and Meghan want to go in a different direction. They’ve said what they needed to say with regard to the royals,” the source added last month. “They’re moving on.”
