On July 16, 1988, Michael Jackson played Wembley Stadium in London. The show was sold out, with 72,000 people packed in to see him.
Two of them were very special guests. Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, were in the audience.
That should have been nothing but good news. But Michael had a problem, and it was sitting right there on his set list.
Just two weeks earlier, on July 2, his song “Dirty Diana” had gone to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his fifth No. 1 in a row from the “Bad” album. And the title had the princess’s name right in it.
The song had nothing to do with her. Michael said it was about the kind of fans who chase after stars. Think of it as a song about a pushy fan. Still, he worried that singing it in front of Diana might insult her.
So he quietly took it out of the show.
Backstage, Michael met the royal couple. He gave £150,000 to the Prince’s Trust and £100,000 to Great Ormond Street, a children’s hospital in London. He also had a gift for their two little boys, William and Harry: a pair of small “Bad” tour jackets.
News cameras were there when Michael and Diana came face to face.
News footage of Michael meeting Charles and Diana in 1988
Biography.com and Smooth Radio both say it was the only time Michael and Diana ever met in person.
Michael told the rest of the story himself years later, in a 1997 interview with Barbara Walters on ABC’s “20/20.” He sat down with Walters for a long talk, and the Diana story was part of it.
He explained why the song was missing. “I took it out of the show in honor of Her Royal Highness,” he said.
But Diana wanted to hear it. When they met, she asked him straight out, “Are you going to do Dirty Diana?”
Michael gave her the honest answer. “So I said, ‘No, I took it out of the show because of you.'”
He was being a gentleman. He thought he was doing her a favor.
And the princess wasn’t having it.
“She said ‘No! I want you to do it. Do it. Do the song.'”
So much for protecting her feelings. Far from being offended, Diana was a fan of the song. According to Wikipedia, she told Michael it was one of her personal favorites.
Here’s the interview clip where Michael tells the story in his own words.
Michael tells Barbara Walters what Diana said to him
The night was preserved on film too. Years later, the concert came out as “Live at Wembley July 16, 1988,” released on September 18, 2012. It came from Michael’s own VHS copy of the show, the only known copy. The official film of that night includes “Dirty Diana.”
If you want to hear the song the princess was so keen on, here’s Michael’s official video for it.
Michael Jackson’s official “Dirty Diana” video
Once you’ve heard it, go back to the Walters clip. Knowing the song now, it’s easier to see why Michael was so careful and why Diana’s answer stayed with him all those years.