Princess Diana had acupuncture needle scare, says ex-butler

The late Princess Diana was well-known for her love of holistic health and alternative therapies. However, an unexpected medical mishap once threw her wellness routine into total chaos, leaving her practitioner in a full-blown panic attack.

In his memoir A Royal Duty, Princess Diana’s former royal butler, Paul Burrell, recounted a bizarre and high-stakes incident involving a missing acupuncture needle and a frantic search through Kensington Palace.

A Frantic Call to Kensington Palace

According to Burrell, the drama unfolded shortly after the Princess of Wales returned to the palace from an acupuncture session. Instead of the typical post-therapy calm, Burrell received a frantic phone call from Diana’s highly stressed acupuncturist.

“If acupuncturists are meant to be calming, this call was anything but,” Burrell wrote. “In fact, the practitioner was on the verge of panic. ‘I’m a needle short. I think I may have left one in the princess’s head!'”

Terrified by the mental image of a stray medical needle lost in the royal’s scalp, Burrell rushed upstairs to investigate. He admitted he half-expected to find the Princess writing at her desk with an “antenna protruding from her scalp.”

Princess Diana’s Hilarious Reaction

When Burrell nervously broke the news to Diana—telling her, “Apparently, you might have an acupuncturist’s needle still in your head”—the royal’s reaction completely defused the high-stakes tension.

Rather than panicking, Princess Diana thoroughly patted down her own hair and burst into laughter. Finding humor in the chaotic situation, she told her butler:

“Put the poor woman out of her misery and tell her I’m okay. I feel a lot better for seeing her again!”

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Burrell noted that despite the occasional mishaps, the Princess of Wales never failed to see the funny side of her unconventional health and wellness treatments, cementing her legacy as a remarkably down-to-earth royal.