When Princess Diana was having marital problems with Prince Charles, she received a lot of negative backlash from the media. But luckily for her, the late Burt Reynolds took the attention off of Diana by announcing his separation from his wife of five years, Loni Anderson, in 1993. In Burt’s 2015 memoir, But Enough About Me, the late actor recalled receiving a special thank you note from Princess Diana for diverting the media’s attention away from her.

Burt wrote that after “we announced the separation, the press went into high gear.” He continued, “Princess Diana sent me a thank you note for keeping her off the cover of People magazine.”

burt and loni. (photo credit: getty images)

Burt and Loni. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Although Burt was once in love with Loni, 73, he previously told People that after the divorce, he regretted marrying her. “I should have known that you don’t marry an actress,” he said at the time. “That was a really dumb move on my part.” 

According to Burt’s memoir, Loni would apparently act like a “star” and would buy “everything in triplicate, from every day dresses, to jewelry, to china, and linens.” He also said that she maxed out a “platinum American Express card with a $45,000 credit limit” in less than two hours. 

Before Burt married Loni he was hitched to actress Judy Carne for two years and he later revealed that neither Judy or Loni was the love of his life — it was actually his former co-star Sally Field.

burt and sally. (photo credit: getty images)

Burt and Sally. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

“I miss her terribly,” Burt said while recalling his break-up with Sally to Vanity Fair. “Even now, it’s hard on me. I don’t know why I was so stupid. Men are like that, you know. You find the perfect person, and then you do everything you can to screw it up.” Burt and Sally never married and he sadly passed away on Thursday, Sept. 6 at age 82.