Canadian musician Bryan Adams has said that meeting Diana, Princess of Wales “was truly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me”.
The 64-year-old, who wrote a song called Diana in the mid 1980s, said they became friends after he received an invite for tea.
Speaking to The Times about his friendship with the late princess, he said: “We had a lot of really, really good conversations, I have to tell you.
“In fact it’s strange and surreal to think about.
“I really, really liked Diana, she was an amazing woman and a super-great inspiration.
“Meeting her was truly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.”
Discussing the moment he was introduced to her on a plane, he added: “She was sitting and I was standing.
“I said, ‘I used your name on a song once’, and Diana said, ‘Yes, I know, very funny. Actually I’d like to hear it again.’
“So I sent a copy to Kensington Palace, got an invitation to tea back and that’s how we became friends.
“When I first went round to KP (Kensington Palace) she wasn’t, like, ‘I really need to talk to somebody’, and you don’t bulldoze into someone’s life wanting to know everything in the first 10 minutes.
“It was, ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’ But later the more friendly we got the more I learnt what was really going on.”
The Ontario-born singer and photographer also spoke about his single Diana, which included the lyrics “the day that he married you – I nearly lost my mind” and “Diana – I just can’t get you off of my mind”.
Adams said: “The lyrics to Diana were just laddish humour.
“And actually the song was inspired by that guy who (had) broken into the Queen’s bedroom and sat on her bed smoking a fag.”
In 1982, painter and decorator Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom and she awoke to find him sitting on her bed.
“Anyway, I retired it after Diana died out of respect to her and her boys,” Adams added.
Diana died in 1997 following a car crash in Paris and the first instalment of the final series of hit Netflix drama The Crown, which aired in November, explored the events surrounding the tragedy.
The fictional series, which is based around true events, has also depicted the marriage between Diana and Charles, the-then Prince of Wales, who separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
Adams is touring So Happy It Hurts across Europe and will be performing a three-night residency at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2024.
