In the music industry, many iconic friendships have blossomed through the decades like the friendships of Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, Lizzo and SZA, Eminem and Elton John, and many more. However, the most surprising tandem of all time involved Michael Jackson and a Duchess from the Royal Family.
According to Grunge, the King of Pop and Princess Diana had a life-long friendship that all started because of how the media portrayed them in tabloids and newspapers.
The two first met in 1988 when the musician performed at his Wembley Stadium concert. Prior to attending, the Duchess of Wales had been a fan of the pop star and reportedly loved his songs, "Bad" and "Thriller."
In an interview with Barbara Walters in 1997, Jackson revealed that the royal asked him if he was going to perform the track "Dirty Diana" at the show. Although the song was not about the Princess herself, the musician said he took it out from the official setlist because he knew she would be watching from the audience.
Despite his hesitations, Diana told him to perform the song, saying, "No, I want you to do it."
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Since then, the pair shared a lifelong friendship and Jackson even became a confidant for the Princess as she would often call him on the phone and share stories about how hard the press was to them at the time.
"we'd talk in private because the press is hard on her the way they were hard on me, the same way. She needed a soulmate to talk to. She felt hunted the way I felt hunted," he told Daily Mirror.
Unfortunately, Princess Diana's death was ultimately blamed on the people whom she feared, the paparazzi as the Duchess, who died in Paris in August 1997, was reportedly being followed by photographers before her car crash.
Jackson shared the same struggles as the royals as he told Walters that he couldn't even take a walk in the park or do normal things like going to a store.
"I'd have to hide in a room, you feel like you're in prison," he added.
Even though both icons dealt with a lot of negative things when they were alive, they also shared a positive aspect as the pop star commended Diana for how she cared about children and people the way he did.
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