ROYAL FAMILY NEWSChristopher Lloyd Recalls Sitting Next to 'Attractive' Princess Diana at 'Back to the Future Part II' Premiere
Christopher Lloyd recalled Princess Diana's unexpected reaction to 'Back to the Future Part II.'
Oct. 28 2026, Updated 6:01 p.m. ET
Christopher Lloyd recalled Princess Diana's surprising and enthusiastic reaction to a wild scene when they met at the 1989 London premiere of Back to the Future Part II.
"She really laughed out loud at that — I mean, she really guffawed, and I was surprised," Lloyd writes in his new memoir, In My Own Time, recalling Diana's response to a scene involving Biff, played by Thomas F. Wilson, crashing into a manure truck.
The actor found himself seated beside the Princess of Wales after his costar Michael J. Fox, who was originally supposed to accompany her, couldn't attend the U.K. premiere.
Lloyd Recalls His First Impression of Princess Diana
Lloyd described Princess Diana as 'approachable and attractive' after sitting beside her at the 1989 premiere.
Lloyd described Diana as "approachable and attractive" in his memoir.
"Under regular circumstances, I might have been inclined to ask her to have a drink with me later, which would have been the wrong thing to do," he writes. "She was genuinely attentive of the movie."
The premiere, which Diana chaired, also placed additional expectations on Lloyd following Fox's absence. The actor recalled feeling "extra pressure" to "pick up the slack" while representing the film.
Princess Diana's Reaction to a 'Back to the Future Part II' Scene Surprised Lloyd
Diana's laughter at Biff's manure truck mishap surprised Lloyd.
While Diana laughed a few times during the movie, Lloyd was mostly surprised by how she reacted to the running p----truck joke.
The scene shows a classic Back to the Future running joke where Biff ends up face-first in manure after crashing into a truck.
Her reaction proved Lloyd wrong about what kind of comedy royals enjoy.
"What kind of message does her enjoyment of that moment send?" he writes. "I suppose that kind of humor is pretty universal. I just didn't expect it from royalty."
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Lloyd Reveals His One Regret About 'Back to the Future Part III'
Lloyd acknowledges there was 'too much risk' in performing a dangerous train stunt in 'Back to the Future Part III.'
Lloyd also reflected on his experiences filming the trilogy, noting that Back to the Future Part III is his favorite installment.
However, the actor admits he still has one regret about the 1990 film. In the climax, Doc Brown (Lloyd) and Marty (Fox) ride horses next to a fast train and climb aboard to get back to 1985.
Stunt doubles handled the dangerous train climb instead of the actors. Lloyd explained that the stars doing it themselves would've been simply "too risky."
Lloyd Opens Up About His Past Cocaine Abuse
Lloyd opened up about his first experience with cocaine.
The actor also reflects on his time playing Reverend Jim Ignatowski on the 1970s sitcom Taxi, sharing how the character's countercultural roots mirrored his own life.
Lloyd describes Jim, a former Harvard student, as a "leftover and a burnout of hippie culture" whose storylines sometimes involved drug use.
He remembers trying cocaine for the very first time during a visit to the Joe Allen restaurant in Los Angeles.
"A young woman approached me and asked if I wanted to come out to her car and do a snort. She meant cocaine, which at that point I had never tried," Lloyd writes.
"I hadn't been out looking for it, but I said all right. We went out to her car and did a couple of lines. That was all it took. I was hooked almost immediately. I loved it, and that was where my cocaine abuse began," he recalls.
