Bryan Adams reveals how his song started a "surreal" friendship with Princess Diana

11 December 2023, 14:11

It was the most unlikely of friendships.

On one hand there's Canadian pop rock titan Bryan Adams, and on the other was Diana, Princess of Wales and member of the British royal family.

Despite Bryan's global success, I doubt anybody would've put the pair together when you mention celebrity friendships.

But the man behind timeless hits like 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)' and 'Please Forgive Me', penned another song which brought the two close together.

His 1985 song 'Diana' was written with Princess Diana in mind, and sees Bryan sing he's "losing his mind" after she supposedly wed the wrong person, entering a doomed marriage.

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There was certainly some truth to the fictional song Bryan wrote, and Diana herself loved it so much that they struck up a friendship.

At one point, rumours were rife that the pair were having an affair, accusations which Bryan doesn't address in a new interview in The Sunday Times.

He does however revealed how their "surreal" friendship started, saying that Diana found the lyrics to his song "very funny".

After hearing his song, Princess Diana invited Bryan to Kensington Palace for tea so she could hear it again.

Adams told The Sunday Times that they "had a lot of really, really good conversations" as their close friendship ignited.

"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," he said, after the pair initially met on a plane.

When Bryan told Diana she was the inspiration behind his 1985 song, she responded: "Yes, I know, very funny. Actually I'd like to hear it again."

Bryan sent a copy of his song to Kensington Palace as a personal gift for Diana, and then she invited him round for tea.

"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," he revealed.

"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."

Released as the B-side to his single 'Heaven', the song quickly attracted attention because of lyrics which call Diana "the queen of all my dreams".

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Rumours of a romantic relationship between the two started in the 1990s, but intensified in 2003 after comments made by Bryan's ex-girlfriend Cecilie Thomsen.

She told reporters at the time, that "ours was a stormy relationship and Bryan's affair with Diana didn't make it any easier".

Out of respect for his dear friend, Bryan retired 'Diana' in 1997 after she died in a tragic accident at the age of just 36.