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Fran Drescher recalls the time she once made Princess Diana laugh

The 63-year-old channeled her signature humor when she met the Princess of Wales.
Fran Drescher's signature sense of humor was on full display when she met Princess Diana.
Fran Drescher's signature sense of humor was on full display when she met Princess Diana.Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Fran Drescher has made plenty of celebrities laugh over the years, but she's particularly proud of the effect she once had on one member of the British royal family.

In a new interview with Marie Claire, the 63-year-old reflected on the time she attended the 1995 CFDA Awards and had the chance to meet Princess Diana.

The actor was lucky enough to attend a cocktail party that the Princess of Wales was hosting for the presenters and winners, and she wasn't about to miss her opportunity to introduce herself.

“It was wall-to-wall people, and she stood in the center of it, with a roped-off area. … (I told my manager) ‘I’m not getting this close and not meeting her.’ So I said, ‘Pardon me, excuse me, pardon me,’ and everybody just got out of my way," she recalled.

When it came time for Drescher to present during the award ceremony, she took some creative liberty and decided to entertain the princess and made up a comedic story about their meeting.

"We happened to both be in Mr. Blackwell’s best- and worst-dressed list (that year). I said (onstage), ‘I met the princess, and I said to her, “Princess, we’re both on Mr. Blackwell’s list.” And she said, “Yes, but I’m on the best-dressed, and you’re on the worst-dressed.” And I said, “But you got Princess Margaret on your list, and I got Demi and Madonna on mine. You’re on the wrong list, Princess,” she recalled.

Much to Drescher's delight, the princess found the story quite charming.

"And (Diana) was in the front row, bellied over, laughing,” she said.

Drescher, who starred in the hit sitcom "The Nanny," has plenty of stories like this and she was happy to share another one that was equally as amusing. The year was 1999 and the actor somehow ended up in a stretch limo with Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz and Edward Norton as they traveled from a Miami "disco" to Lenny Kravitz's home.

“Lenny said, ‘Gee, you know, we should all go back to my house, but how are we gonna get outta here? And who’s got a car?’ And I said, ‘I got a car! We can all fit in it.’ That whole crowd piled into my car with my girlfriends. This is a night we’re still talking about," she said.