“I’m a princess, too. What about me?”: Kevin Costner’s ‘Bodyguard’ Sequel Wanted Princess Diana But That Could’ve Gone Very Wrong

Kevin Costner was very eager to cast Princess Diana in The Bodyguard sequel, but the British royal family wasn’t too thrilled about the idea.

(Right) Image by John Mathew Smith, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1992, Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston starred in The Bodyguard, a romantic thriller that became a cultural hit.

Costner played a former Secret Service agent hired to protect Houston’s character, a global music star facing threats from a stalker.

There was romance, there was drama, there was action, there was everything! The film was a box office success, with Houston’s powerful performance of “I Will Always Love You” becoming iconic.

Costner, naturally, had plans for a sequel, but this time he wanted Princess Diana in the lead! Here’s what happened in detail!

Kevin Costner wanted Princess Diana to star in The Bodyguard 2!

For years, rumors have swirled that Kevin Costner was planning a Bodyguard sequel with none other than Princess Diana in the lead.

As wild as it sounds, not all Hollywood gossip is just hot air, and this one was actually confirmed by Costner himself!

Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard (1992)| Warner Bros.

In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Kevin Costner revealed that he met Princess Diana through Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who was a close friend of the Princess.

Costner admired Ferguson for keeping things grounded and not making everything revolve around her.

He said,

It was so sweet.

Sarah was the one that set this up.

Sarah was very cool… when she could have been going, ‘Well, I’m a princess too.

What about me?’ She didn’t do that at all.

Diana and I began to talk.

In 1996, as Princess Diana was on the brink of divorcing Prince Charles, she mentioned she was ready for a new adventure, and that’s when Costner floated the idea of a sequel.

Costner had seemingly dialed Princess Diana directly through her pantry, and her former butler, Paul Burrell, confirmed the conversation.

As per Burrell’s memoir, A Royal Duty, he recalled how one evening the phone rang, and when Princess Diana heard who it was, she was genuinely excited.

While Princess Diana was clearly flattered, she wasn’t about to star in a movie where she’d play a princess saved by a bodyguard.

Burrell shared that she quickly shut down the idea, telling him, “It is simply impossible.” (via Newsweek).

This has got to be one of the most fascinating “what ifs” of Hollywood for sure!!

The royal family wasn’t exactly on board with that plan!

While Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, claimed she wasn’t interested in starring in The Bodyguard 2, the full story remains a bit of a mystery.

What is known for sure is that before anything could move forward, tragedy struck.

On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris while being chased by paparazzi.

She was just 36.

Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp | Credits: Warner Bros.

After her death, Kevin Costner chose not to continue developing the sequel.

For him, the idea of casting someone else in a role he had imagined specifically for Princess Diana didn’t feel right.

But the story didn’t end there.

About a year later, news leaked that Costner had been in talks with the Princess about the film.

That revelation didn’t sit well with the royal family.

According to Costner, things got tense behind the scenes.

He explained in the same Stern interview,

When Diana passed, about a year later it had leaked out that I was prepping Bodyguard 2 with her.

And what happened was, the royal family kind of turned on me a little bit, It got actually kind of ugly.

And I let it go for a while.

It just got uglier and uglier.

Even though Sarah Ferguson warned him not to stir the pot, Kevin Costner didn’t back down.

He reached out to the royals himself, saying to them, “I’m telling you something, you need to stop, because it is true.

And if you don’t stop, I’m going to start.” Ultimately, The Bodyguard 2 never happened, not because of a lack of star power or studio support, but because, in Costner’s eyes, no one could ever replace Princess Diana in that role.

The Bodyguard is currently available on Amazon Prime Video for streaming and can be rented on Apple TV.