The inside story of George Michael and Princess Diana’s gorgeous friendship

20 February 2025, 16:00

By Thomas Edward

Loading audio...

She befriended a number of famous faces throughout her life.

There was a time when Princess Diana was arguably the world's most adored public figure, winning the hearts of people around the globe.

After her marriage to King Charles III (then Prince Charles) in 1981, Diana Spencer became a fully fledged member of the Royal Family.

But the British public knew there was something very different about her - fun-loving, gracious, glamorous, and open-hearted, she was the modern embodiment of the Monarchy.

Of course, as history tells us, the traditional way of living didn't sit well with Diana, given her nature as a person.

She'd become friends with pop stars and Hollywood icons of the era, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Elton John, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Bryan Adams, Kurt Russell, John Travolta and Freddie Mercury, becoming dear friends with them all.

There was even a rumour she went on a night out to a gay club with Freddie, but that's a different story altogether.

Another star she would strike up a close bond with was none other than George Michael, a cherished friendship that would last until her tragic death in 1997.

So, how did they meet? Were they ever more than just friends? Here's everything you need to know about their gorgeous friendship:

When did George Michael and Princess Diana first meet?

Princess Diana introducing herself to Elton John and George Michael backstage at Live Aid in 1985. Picture: Alamy

In their own respects, George Michael and Princess Diana were arguably two of the biggest (and most definitely well-known) celebrities of the 1980s.

There was never any doubt that the pair wouldn't be aware of each other before they'd meet face-to-face.

The first time they ever crossed paths was at Live Aid, the iconic benefit concert which took place at Wembley Stadium on 13th July 1985.

According to reports, Diana had a major crush on George from his Wham! days, and upon first meeting him said she found him "very gorgeous", the Daily Mirror reported.

George responded in typically charming fashion: “Thank you, ma’am – you’re pretty smashing yourself.”

From then onwards, Diana was smitten with George - like most of the nation, in fairness.

When did Princess Diana and George Michael become good friends?

Princess Diana to George Michael in 1993. (Photo by TIM GRAHAM/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

Being a similar age and both navigating their way through life as immensely famous figures, George and Diana felt a kinship with one another.

She was on hand to offer advice when George went through his legal battle with Sony in 1993 and helped him when he lost his mother, and likewise, he'd provide her with a shoulder to cry on.

George was quoted as saying in the book George Michael: Freedom, The Ultimate Tribute 1963-2016 that they "clicked in a way that was a little bit intangible, and it probably had more to do with our upbringing than anything else.

"Diana was the only person that I knew who made me feel like an ordinary person," he said.

Diana, like George, was a massive music fan, so they'd regularly attend concerts together, talk for hours over the phone, and be seen out for lunch sometimes with Elton John.

At the tail end of 1993, Diana called upon George to headline her first ever Concert For Hope to commemorate World Aids Day, such was her faith in him.

By this point, the pair were calling in each "darling" with George gifting Diana a gold watch.

He told the Huffington Post in 2011: “I think we clicked in way that was a little bit intangible, and it probably had probably more to do with our up bringing than anything else.

"She was very like a lot of women that have been attracted to me in my life because they see something non-threatening.

"Maybe because I take care of my sisters and I'm so protective of my sisters, women seem to smell that.

George added: "So women who had a hard time growing up or feel that they were not, you know... when I was still sleeping with women, my God it was absolutely all of the time."

Did their relationship go any further than friendship?

When did Princess Diana and George Michael become good friends? Picture: Getty

In the same 2011 interview with the Huffington Post, George also suggested that Diana was keen to pursue a relationship that was much more than a platonic friendship.

Like many of George's close friends, Diana would have known that he was gay. According to George, it didn't halt her attraction toward him.

“There were certain things that happened that made it clear she was very attracted to me. There was no question."

George did add, however, that the two were never physically intimate with one another, as he "knew it would have been a disastrous thing to do".

As biographer James Gavin wrote in George Michael: A Life, George kept Diana at a "careful distance" not to stoke rumours with the press as they were consistently in the spotlight.

Was George Michael the reason behind Princess Diana’s divorce from Charles?

After 15 years of marriage, Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. (Photo by PA/AFP via Getty Images). Picture: Getty

By 1996, Diana divorced Charles in what became an uncomfortable scenario for the Royal Family, unfolding in the public eye.

But no, George had nothing to do with Diana's divorce from Charles, despite the affection she clearly had for him.

She did however confide in George over the telephone about the fallout from her crumbling marriage, which was recorded on one occasion.

According to The Sun, Diana phoned George to chat, but he didn't pick up the phone immediately so she started to leave a recorded message on his voicemail.

George later answered the phone and the pair spoke at length, though the conversation was still recorded.

When asked by George about how things were panning out for her, Diana replied: "It’s been pretty grim but we’re near the end of it."

She then added, with great amounts of sarcasm: “A very loving, compassionate family, this one I’m leaving."

We only know what was said in the private conversation because the recording wound up in the possession of one of George's friends who sold it to the press in 2017.

How did George deal with Diana's tragic death?

George and Elton both attended Diana's funeral, with Elton famously performing 'Candle In The Wind'. (Peter De Jong/Pool Photo via AP, File). Picture: Alamy

Naturally, like the rest of the nation that entered a painful period of mourning, George was utterly devastated by Diana's death.

Speaking just months after the funeral, George recalled in 1997 that the experience of losing his dear friend made him relive the grief of losing his mum who died just six months earlier.

Not only that, but it was the third bereavement he'd experienced in just a few years after the loss of his first true love Anselmo Feleppa.

“I bawled my eyes out," George later revealed. "I had forgotten my hanky and I was really streaming.

"I was one of the few people in that part of Westminster Abbey that was really blubbering and I remember thinking: 'God, this is going to be really embarrassing.' But it was almost like I was reliving my mum's funeral."

The emotion, after losing his lover and his mother before, became too much to keep bottled up.

"It wasn't as if I didn't get upset at my mum's funeral but it was just too soon after her death and maybe it hadn't sunk in," he admitted.

George did candidly express that he held major regrets about holding back with their friendship.

"I could have kept in a lot more contact with her," he said. "Because we really got on well. But I was always reluctant to call her up.

"It was almost like a mate of mine who doesn't want to call me up too much in case it looks strange - because he thinks that everybody else is calling me up.

"It was the same equation with Diana and I. She meant so much to so many people - including me."