Durban – Princess Diana had a “wicked sense of humour”, loved roller-blading, eating scallops and the odd “naughty croissant and coffee” after training.
And her sons, Princes William and Harry, often accompanied their famous mother during her gym sessions “wielding toy pistols and annoying her".
"She was a great mum and her boys were her life.”
Those are some of the memories of the late Diana Princess of Wales from celeb fitness trainer Jenni Rivett, who grew up in Pietermaritzburg and Durban and is now based in the UK.
In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Saturday this week, the former Kloof High School pupil described her years working with the princess. This is ahead of the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in August.
Recalling the first time she met the princess, Rivett said: “She had the most incredible ability to make you feel like you were the most important person of the moment. When I first met her at Kensington Palace, she burst into the room and said ‘I’ve heard how busy you are, so thank you for fitting me in. Now what can you do with this body?”
And according to Rivett, while Princess Di was known for her supermodel figure, she was a natural sportswoman who enjoyed a number of sports, including swimming, tennis, roller-blading and skiing as well as working out in the gym, but "she wasn’t keen on running”.
Fitness trainer Jenni Rivett with Princess Diana of Wales on a ski trip in Vail, Colorado, in this undated newspaper picture.
“She grew to love working out as she saw such an incredible change in her body. She also asked me to teach her roller-blading, which she loved, although I nearly had a heart attack a few times when she almost fell over,” said Rivett.
She added: “One day at the beginning of our training session, she wanted to do some stretch exercises, which we usually only used to do at the end. I soon realised why – there on the mat was Hugh Grant and Simon le Bon.”
Lovely legs
And when Rivett went to the palace, the royal princes used to fight over who would hold her baby daughter, Kirsti.
“Kirsti says she wishes they would fight over her now.”
When it came to creating that perfect body, Rivett said: “Diana had lovely legs and I just made them better. I have a unique method of training, which makes the muscles small, lean, lengthened and toned.”
She also helped Princess Di with dietary advice. “Her favourite food was scallops. She loved fish, chicken and all things healthy and, now and again, she would invite me for a naughty croissant and coffee after training.”
While she describes the princess as “kind, caring, so compassionate with a wicked sense of humour,” she said there was always a “sadness about her”.
Diana’s caring nature was highlighted when Rivett’s brother was diagnosed with cancer in 1995.
“She immediately got her oncologist to make contact with his doctor in uMhlanga and they discussed the best treatment for him. He survived the cancer.”
While Rivett always maintained her professionalism as a personal trainer to the royal, the two women became good friends, even sharing a skiing trip to Colorado.
“We became very close and she shared almost everything with me. I really felt for what she was going through during bad times and she often poured her heart out to me.
“One day she was in floods of tears over some bad press, so I reminded her that today’s news was tomorrow’s fish and chips,” said Rivett.
In April 1997 Rivett resigned from her position as the princess’s personal trainer because she was planning to return to South Africa.
Delighted
“A month before her death, my plans changed and my move back to South Africa was delayed.
“She was delighted and we had put dates into our diaries to meet on her return from the south of France, which sadly never happened.”
Like many people, Rivett clearly remembers the moment she heard about Princess Diana’s death.
Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed, walk on a pontoon in the French Riviera resort of St Tropez on August 22, 1997. File photo: Patrick Bar-Nice Matin/AP
“I was in Turkey on holiday. I flew back to the UK on the Monday after her death. I felt numb and there was this weird feeling of absolute silence in the UK.
“I admired her values and her ability to be so down-to-earth. I miss her so much.”
Recently recognised as one of the top 50 personal trainers in the UK out of an estimated 30000, Rivett is a fitness and nutrition consultant at the South Kensington Club in a very upmarket area of London.
She has had a number of big names stretching and toning their bodies on the floor of her gymnasium including novelist Jeffrey Archer, actress and model Elizabeth Hurley, Shakira Caine (wife of actor Sir Michael Caine), as well as Chelsea Davy (Prince Harry’s former girlfriend) and US singer Ashley Roberts.
Making sure she returns to South Africa a couple of times a year to her home in Ballito, Rivett said her favourite hangout is the Oyster Box Hotel.
And if she could say anything to the princess 20 years on?
“'Morning Diana, any cheeky jokes for me today? Now let’s get on with those lunges.' I know she would appreciate that,” said Rivett.