This is a funny story, with all seriousness. Especially when you consider it comes from no other than Elton John. Can you imagine that Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone got into a fistfight over Princess Diana? Elton certainly claims so in his latest memoir. Once the incident occurred, it was Stallone who left like a fury back home.
Same as many of us, Elton John knew one thing; Princess D had her way around men. She was alarmingly charming and no one was ever left indifferent in her presence. The incident that John recollects in his memoir titled Me, happened at a dinner party he was holding for his friends. No one would have expected that Stallone and Gere would come close to a fistfight because of the Princess.
The dinner was held due to Elton John’s involvement in the 1994 film the Lion King. He was in charge of the music, and former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg asked John to have a party for people involved with the film and some more guests. At the time, Princess D was freshly divorced from Prince Charles, while Richard Gere ended his relationship with Cindy Crawford.
Talking about the dinner, in his Me memoir, John states: “Straight away, Richard Gere and Diana seemed very taken with each other. 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 them, Diana and Richard Gere’s newly blossoming friendship was not going down well with Sylvester Stallone at all. I think he may have turned up to the party with the express intention of picking Diana up, only to find his plans for the evening ruined.”
This all happened before the dinner. Once the guests were prepared to sit down, the absence of Gere and Stallone was notable. It was reported by David Furnish, that the two men took their quarrel outside. The biggest incident was prevented by Furnish, but during the rest of the night, it was unpleasant being in the company of the two actors. Two of them also had a dispute a few decades earlier, when they were filming The Lords of Flatbush together.
Talking about what happened after the dinner, John recalled: “After dinner, Diana and Richard Gere resumed their position together in front of the fire, and Sylvester stormed off home.” Stallone, who already had a beef with Gere also said: “I would never-ever have come if I knew that prince f—n’ Charming was gonna be here.’ ”
Considering that Elton John would have no reasons to lie about the events that he witnessed, we have no other but to rust him. Of course, people who got their hands first on this story immediately asked both Stallone and Gere for comment, with both denying to make a statement. Considering they couldn’t make peace between them since 1974, it wouldn’t be surprising that they got into a fight over Princess Diana. She knew how to make men mad about her.
In his memoir, John also talks about Princess D in great lengths. One of the things he said about her is: “She was very much loved. She was a controversial figure in some respects, but not to me. I loved her because she did so much for AIDS and she was a great friend to me. We had a falling out, but we reconciled in the end. It was an extraordinary summer. ”
Kim Marks 
Nina Smith