Michael Jackson and Princess Diana are like the most unlikely of friends but they actually had a lot in common. For one, they were both considered royalty, being the King of Pop and the People’s Princess. They also had extremely public lives that were constantly scrutinized by the media. After meeting at Jackson’s concert in 1988, the two developed a lifelong friendship despite all of their lifestyle differences.
When Princess Diana met Michael Jackson
Princess Diana was reportedly a huge fan of Michael Jackson’s music. On July 16, 1988, she attended a concert at the Wembley Stadium during Jackson’s Bad tour. She was accompanied by her husband at the time, Prince Charles, who is now King Charles. Around the same time, Jackson donated £150,000 for Prince Charles’ Trust charity, as well as £100,000 for a children’s hospital charity.
Skip “Dirty Diana”
Afterward, Michael Jackson admitted to feeling nervous about meeting Princess Diana before his performance. He had decided to refrain from singing “Dirty Diana”. The song was about groupies but he worried it would be inappropriate to perform before a royal with the same name. Diana tried to convince him to include it, saying it was one of her favorite tracks.
“Do the song”
“I took it out of the show in honor of Her Royal Highness,” Jackson explained in an interview with Barbara Walters in 1997. The princess had asked him about the song. “I said, ‘No, I took it out of the show because of you.’ She said, ‘No! I want you to do it. Do it. Do the song.’”
Diana reportedly danced during the show while her husband remained seated. Jackson gave them miniature tour jackets as gifts for their sons, Prince William and Harry.
Long-distant friends
Despite meeting in person only once, the pair developed a rapport over time. “We were very close,” Jackson said in 1999, according to Biography. “She was extremely close by phone… I was still married to Lisa Marie [Presley]. Diana woke me up usually late at night… mostly after three in the morning! And then she held me for hours on the telephone. She talked about children, the press.”
The only one who could understand…
These late-night conversations were corroborated with Matt Fiddes, who was Jackson’s bodyguard for over a decade. Fiddles even says the King of Pop was in love with Diana. In an 2017 interview with Daily Star, Fiddes explained, “[Jackson] felt she was the only person in the world who could understand his life in terms of not being able to go anywhere, and the media stories that got out of hand… The intrusion into the private life, having no privacy whatsoever, the children being hounded.”
“He wanted to marry her”
Fiddes went on to say that Jackson tried to meet with Diana on multiple occasions but the opportunity never arose. However, he felt an instant bond when they first met. “…They were both very shy individuals and he loved her, he wanted to marry her, truth be told,” Fiddes added. “They both had this tremendous amount of pain they suffered due to the role they were in.”
Diana’s death
Michael Jackson was devastated when Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997. Because of his grief, he postponed his HIStory tour. When the next show finally took place, he dedicated it to Diana. Jackson explained to Walters, “In my heart, I was saying, ‘I love you, Diana. Shine. And shine on forever, because you are the true princess of the people.’”
In loving memory
He attended a memorial service in Los Angelos for Princess Diana. At the time, he told reporters he was there in “honor of my friend who is no longer here… I love her.” In a statement, Jackson declared, “The sudden loss of Diana, Princess of Wales, is one of the greatest tragedies of the millennium. She was a friend to the world.”
Princess Diana and Michael Jackson’s relationship with the press
In 2003, Jackson recounted the friendship, saying she was “one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known, because we could relate to each other. We shared something in common, with the press. I don’t think they hounded anyone more than her and myself. And we had a relationship, where we would call each other late at night… just cry on each other’s shoulders, how hard and difficult and how mean the tabloids can be.”
Jackson’s death
Michael Jackson died in 2009, and the TV coverage of his memorial garnered over 31 million American viewers. According to Nielsen ratings, it was the second most-watched daytime funeral. The first most-watched was Princess Diana’s service, which drew in over 33.2 million viewers.
Read More: Have You Ever Noticed This One Strange Detail in Pictures of Princess Diana and King Charles?