Bizarre Reason Why Charles Banned William and Harry From Meeting Michael Jackson: “He Used To…”

Prince Charles and Princess Diana once met Michael Jackson backstage at Wembley Stadium in July 1988. However, when their sons Prince William and Harry expressed interest in meeting the King of Pop, Charles was far from pleased. According to Jackson’s former bodyguard, the then-Prince forbade his sons from meeting Jackson over the singer's obsession with his late ex-wife, Diana.

Dirty Diana singer Jackson shared a close bond with Diana. As reported by the Mirror, Jackson’s ex-bodyguard, Matt Fiddes, told podcaster James English, “Prince Harry and Prince William wanted to meet Michael. Obviously, they knew their mum was friends with Michael Jackson–she used to go to the Wembley concerts during the ‘Bad’ era and so on. We set it up, for Michael to meet them, but Charles…we were told, he had put a stop to it.” Fiddes explained the reason behind Charles' bizarre decision. He said, “He [Jackson] used to talk about Diana a lot–he said that she was his ideal wife. They spent hours on the phone…she used to ring all the time and he used to ring her all the time.”

Fiddes claimed that he had received an official letter from the palace stating William and Harry’s unavailability to meet the singer. He also added that Jackson was keen to meet the young royals in 2002, on the fifth anniversary of Diana’s death. Allegedly, the singer was promised an honorary knighthood by ‘certain government officials’ and close confidants of the royal family. The block came as a surprise considering Jackson’s donation of £450,000 to the Prince's Trust and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. He had presented Charles and Diana with the cheque during their 1988 meetup.

Reminiscing about his friendship with the late Princess, Jackson himself once told German Media in 1999, “She was extremely close by phone...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.” Though the singer could not attend her funeral, he did attend a memorial service for her in Los Angeles where he told reporters he loved her.

As per The Daily Star, Fiddes also confirmed that the King of Pop was 'in love' with Diana given the many things they had in common. He revealed, “[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.” Out of respect for Diana, Jackson also had his song Dirty Diana removed from the setlist of his 1988 Bad Tour where they first met each other but the Princess insisted he sing it.