The Story Behind Why Michael Jackson Refused to Perform ‘Dirty Diana’ in Front of Princess Diana

Michael Jackson was visibly smitten by Princess Diana when he met her prior to his Wembley Stadium show. He was set to perform on chart-bursting tracks of his career which also included his hit song, Dirty Diana. Though the song had no connection with the princess, Jackson was reluctant to sing it in front of her. His reason, however, was obvious- to not disrespect her. 

In a 1997 sit-down with Barabara Walters, Jackson revealed why he removed the song from his show, "I took it out of the show in honor of Her Royal Highness," said the singer. But Diana was curious to know if Jackson would perform the song that night, and asked him, "Are you going to do Dirty Diana?" He replied, "No, I took it out of the show because of you," but she insisted, "'No! I want you to do it. Do it. Do the song.'" 

The Thriller hitmaker was a fan of Diana who also happened to become her 3 am friend. The celebrities, although, met only a few times in person because Jackson predominantly lived in the US, struck a chord over a lot of commonalities. The late singer told German media in 1999, "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." 

And for Jackson, the grief was as profound as his feelings for Diana after her tragic death. While speaking with Walters, he recalled, "I woke up, and my doctor gave me the news. And I fell back down in grief, and I started to cry. The pain I felt - it was inner pain in my stomach and in my chest," adding that the news was too heavy for him to handle, "I said: 'I can't, I cannot handle this! It's too much. Just the message and the fact that I knew her personally." 

Jackson's bodyguard Matt Fiddes told the Daily Star that the singer saw qualities of an ideal wife in her, "Michael told me he loved her, and he was in love with her, and he wanted to marry her. He told me she was his ideal wife. He felt an immediate bond with her as soon as they met. They were both very shy individuals and he loved her, he wanted to marry her." 

As the two got to know each other better, the 'King of Pop' found solace in her as he 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, [and] the children being hounded." In a nutshell, Jackson and Diana bonded over their shared grief and the consequences that followed being a public figure.