When Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ relationship turned sour, the media went into an absolute frenzy. Stories circulated about both their affairs, and Diana, without her royal security detail following the eventual divorce, was hounded by the paparazzi to the point that it ended up costing her her life.
But in the midst of this, Burt Reynolds was going through marital issues of his own. The actor had been married to actress Loni Anderson from 1988 until 1993, and their split quickly turned very ugly, with accusations flying from both sides.
As a result of the chaos and continued fighting during Reynolds’ divorce, some of the media attention previously stalking Diana suddenly moved off to a new scandal, according to Pop Culture .
The princess later send Reynolds a note of thanks, but it’s one he probably would rather not have received.
In his 2015 memoir, But Enough About Me , Reynolds shared that Diana sent him a letter to thank him for drawing the attention away from her.
“We announced the separation, the press went into high gear,” Reynolds wrote. “Princess Diana sent me a thank you note for keeping her off the cover of People Magazine .”
Why Princess Diana Sent Burt Reynolds a ‘Thank You Note’ https://t.co/bPr6KZI770
— People (@people) September 6, 2018
The major dispute between Reynolds and Anderson following their split was about money. The actor accused his ex-wife of “buying everything in triplicate, from every day dresses to jewelry to china and linens” during their marriage. She even found a way to max out a “platinum American Express card with a $45,000 credit limit in an hour and a half,” Reynolds claimed.
Anderson also decided that she could never be seen wearing the same outfit twice, and once she had been photographed in a dress by the press she would have to throw it out and buy more clothing.
“I should have known that you don’t marry an actress. That was a really dumb move on my part,” Reynolds said back in 2015 of their short marriage.
Just three years after they called it quits, Reynolds was forced to file for bankruptcy. Their financial battle only ended for good in 2015, when Reynolds was so fed up with his ex-wife’s demands that he actually auctioned off some of his prized memorabilia in order to be able to hand her a check to the value of $154,520 check to get her off his back.
The actor also claimed that Anderson was a terrible mother to their adopted son, Quinton.
Reynolds had previously been married to Judy Carne for just two years from 1963 to 1965. He also dated Sally Field for five years, and referred to her as “the love of his life.”
Reynolds sadly passed away on Thursday at the age of 82.
