Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the second rank of superior prostitutes, immediately below that of kept mistresses.

1861

H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor IV 26: ‘Prima Donnas,’ or those who belong to the ‘first class,’ and live in a superior style.

2. one who behaves in a self-important or temperamental manner; also attrib.

1936		Amer. Mercury May p. x/2: Prima donna, the first-class gripe artist; a temperamental [jazz] musician.
1967		R. Daley Only a Game 237: ‘Tell him the prima donna shit is over as far as I’m concerned’.
1970		J. Bouton Ball Four 239: ‘All you prima donna cocksuckers are alike, always wanting people to do things for you’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 154: prima donna 1. one whose chief drive is being the center of everything.
2000		J. Bouton Ball Four—the Final PItch 481: ‘[S]how who’s boss by locking up the stadiums and let those prima donnas rot’.