The late Princess Diana has been hailed as a "very motherly figure".

The late Princess Diana

The late Princess Diana

The blonde beauty tragically passed away in 1997, but five years prior the royal visited Lalapet Government High School in Hyderabad, India, where she met with Avanti Reddy, who was only four years old at the time.

Avanti is now 28 years old and has reflected on her meeting with Diana, because she has admitted the star has left a lasting impression on her.

Speaking to the Mail Online about the moment, Avanti said: "I was the youngest girl there. We performed a tribal Lambadi dance.

"Diana saw me sitting on the ground, picked me up and took me back to stage and put me on her knee.

"She asked me what my name was, so I told her and which my school was and class. I had a cold so she wiped my nose with her own handkerchief.

"She kept me with her the whole time then as she was going said, 'I don't want to leave you'.

"She was a very motherly figure, I can remember that."

And Avanti has revealed Diana - who has sons Prince William and Harry - asked her to be her daughter for the day.

Avanti explained: "She said 'I don't have a daughter, so today you are my daughter'."

And the former director of the school, Pronoti Suhasini Kavoori, believes Avanti was "very bold" and confident when the pair met.

The 60-year-old said: "Avanti was very bold - she was not conscious of who was watching. When I saw her dance so confidently, I knew that she should be at the front.

"Diana came down from the stage and spent time with the children. Then she said she was taking the girl [Avanti] back to the UK, carried her to the stage and sat her on her lap."


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