Rock Star Remembers Princess Diana

from the ABC TV show 20/20

Broadcast September 5 1997

Hugh Downs

Tomorrow, at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey, Elton John will sing a song in her honor. He was an intimate of the princess for many years. And this week, he spoke exclusively to Barbara about their long and close friendship.

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS

Well, Hugh, Princess Diana enjoyed the affection of many people in the world of show business. And her bond with Elton John was special.
[(voice over) Elton John -- the flamboyant rock star. He has helped raise millions of dollars for causes like famine relief and the fight against AIDS. She was the shy Princess Diana, who could hardly have come from a more different world. But she, too, was a crusader, dedicated to easing people's suffering with her compassion and grace. And so, the princess and the rock star became devoted friends and enjoyed each other's company in good times and bad for almost two decades.]
How did you meet? How did you become so friendly?

ELTON JOHN, MUSICIAN

I was playing at Prince Andrew's birthday party at Windsor Castle, and this was when she was Lady Diana Spencer.

BARBARA WALTERS

Hmm, all that time ago.

ELTON JOHN

And -- yes. And I came down after getting changed. and they had a big dance band there. And there was nobody around except her, and she said, "Elton, it was really lovely. Thank you very much." And then, we did the Charleston together for about 10 minutes. Not that I've ever Charlestoned, but you know you don't turn that sort of thing down, do you?
She was so funny. She was very charming and lovely -- very easy then. And she put me very much at ease. And then after that, she wrote me a lovely letter. She was a good letter writer, always -- and she was very quick. You know, you went -- you had a dinner with her, you went out to dinner with her. And voila, there was always a letter practically the next day. Quite extraordinary.

BARBARA WALTERS

Hand - written?

ELTON JOHN

Hand - written, always hand - written. And beautifully hand - written, too. So she was remarkable. She was, you know, had a great attention to detail. There's always been a kindred spirit there.

BARBARA WALTERS

What do you think the kindred spirit was?

ELTON JOHN

A feeling of love for people, compassion, humor, sadness. She could connect with everybody. She made everyone feel special. And that, you know, the royal family has been kind of, through centuries and centuries, remained aloof from that. And they're brought up to -- in a different way from everybody else. And Diana broke the mold.

BARBARA WALTERS

[(voice over) But earlier this year, the two friends had a falling out. And it was not until Gianni Versace, their mutual friend, was brutally slain in July that they came together again. That reunion meant the world to Elton John.]
At the funeral of Gianni Versace, Princess Diana sat next to you.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. She asked if she could sit next to me because she came on her own, which was a tremendous gesture for her to come. And I was -- it was a very emotional day for me, because Gianni and I were extremely close.
As soon as I saw her, I breathed a sigh of relief, even though I was with David, who's my partner. And we were like, "Oh, God, thank God you're here," you know?
When I started crying and she put her arm around me, and she was - that's exactly what she was like. She was such a caring -- she's a very calming person.

BARBARA WALTERS

And she comforted you.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. Friendship is -- is not just all about the good times. It's about -- we all fall out with each other sometimes. We all have disagreements. I thank God through one tragedy we came back together again.

BARBARA WALTERS

You probably would never have been able to forgive yourself if ...

ELTON JOHN

No.

BARBARA WALTERS

Elton, two of your closest friends died as a result of fame. Gianni Versace gunned down, Princess Diana an automobile crash. I mean, fame. What do you think about that?

ELTON JOHN

Well, I also lost John Lennon as well many years ago.

BARBARA WALTERS

John Lennon was gunned down.

ELTON JOHN

That's three of my friends in life have lost their lives to fame. Two of them murdered, one of them in a senseless car crash. You can't really blame it on fame. You can put it down to when it's your time to go, you have no alternative but to be called somewhere else.

BARBARA WALTERS

[(voice over) And now Elton John will be one of the guests at her memorial service tomorrow, where he has been given the rare honor of performing at Westminster Abbey.
Elton, you are going to sing at her funeral.

ELTON JOHN

Sarah, her sister, had asked if it was possible that I could sing. And I said I'll do anything you want. I was -- I'd been invited to the funeral anyway, which I considered an incredible honor, with David, to pay my last respects.
And now, I've been asked to sing something at the funeral, which is - - is quite a daunting thing. But I want to -- I'm not scared about it. I really want to sing for her.

BARBARA WALTERS

It obviously has to be cleared with the Queen.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. And I think not only just the Queen. I mean, you have to go -- it's such a labyrinth -- sort of labyrinth of people you have to go through. There's the people, the courtiers of the palace. There's Westminster Abbey. There's -- you know, because it's a sacred place, you know. And people want it to be dignified, as I do. And they don't want it to be demeaned in any way.

BARBARA WALTERS

What will you sing?

ELTON JOHN

In England, they've been showing montages of Princess Diana with Candle in the Wind ...

And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in
the wind.

... the song that Bernie Taupin and I wrote about Marilyn Monroe. So rather than sing that, which I felt was totally inappropriate because it's a song about Marilyn Monroe, I asked Bernie yesterday evening to write a brand new lyric about her.

BARBARA WALTERS

What's the first line?

ELTON JOHN

Good - bye, England's rose.

BARBARA WALTERS

And how does it end?

ELTON JOHN

Your candle burned out long before your legend ever will.

So it's three verses about her, and it's a beautiful lyric.

BARBARA WALTERS

What an assignment for you, Elton.

ELTON JOHN

That's the toughest. I'm very much a sentimentalist. I cry very easily. And in a situation like that, where one is in a church and you have a choir and there's sacred music, which I find very beautiful. She kept her cool for me when I -- at Gianni's funeral, and she held her composure. I've got to do the same for her.

BARBARA WALTERS

Will you be playing the piano, or will you be singing with the choir?

ELTON JOHN

I'll be playing the piano, because I'm fortunate in that -- because everything has come together so quickly, there's not enough time to rehearse. So I'm going to go from the abbey, and I'm going to go into a studio and I'm going to record a piano and voice version of that song.
And I'm going to put it on my new single, which is coming out in a couple -- two or three weeks. And I'm going to give all the money to start her foundation off.

BARBARA WALTERS

The Princess Diana Trust.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. Yes, she has been announced. So there's going to be a Princess Diana Trust, administered through Kensington Palace by her sister Sarah, to carry on the work through the charities that she was associated with.

BARBARA WALTERS

Since she had little pretension, it seems to me -- and you know her so much better -- that she kind of liked to, you know, strip people of their pretensions.

ELTON JOHN

Yes, and she teased people.

BARBARA WALTERS

Yes.

ELTON JOHN

She was a great teaser, too. And yes, she was -- she was great company. I mean, a great dinner guest, great company, great conversationalist. I've never known her to be unhappy, as far as when she talks to you. She's always one of these people that whenever you get off the phone or you see her in person, you always feel elated after you'd spoken to her.
And she had the best sense of humor. I think that's what most people are saying now. What do you remember about Princess Diana? Her humor.

BARBARA WALTERS

It was kind of a wicked humor.

ELTON JOHN

It was very wicked. She had a very wicked giggle. She had a very wicked sense of humor.

BARBARA WALTERS

You and Princess Diana loved to gossip, didn't you?

ELTON JOHN

Mm - hmm.

BARBARA WALTERS

Mm - hmm.

ELTON JOHN

Gossip and shop. But we never shopped together.

BARBARA WALTERS

Gossip and shop? (Laughter) And I'll bet it was fun.

ELTON JOHN

It was -- oh, and laugh. I mean, she was -- she loved to laugh. She was extreme -- she was a real tease. She loved to giggle. She loved to laugh. And we had many, many wonderful times together.

HUGH DOWNS

When we come back, Barbara will have more of Elton John's memories of his friend the princess. Their private conversations about Prince Charles and her own desperate search for happiness -- after this.

BARBARA WALTERS

[(voice over) As we noted, Princess Diana had a very special friendship with Elton John. They were both crusaders, raising vast amounts of money for charity. But they also liked to laugh together and to tease each other or share a juicy bit of gossip. And that wasn't all. There was something else the princess and the rock star had in common. Both were victims of their own celebrity.

ELTON JOHN

I think because of what I do, she could talk to me about, you know, the pressures that were on her, which were enormous. She was followed everywhere she went. And I don't know how you could live in that sort of goldfish bowl.
And I'm certain she was -- I mean, one thing about her, she wasn't a saint. She was a human being. You know, she had her, I'm sure, her periods of quite, you know, desolate behavior and desolate feelings because if you go -- any place you go, there's somebody following you with a camera. And you know, that's very hard to put up with. People say, "Oh well, that's part and parcel." Let them try it.

BARBARA WALTERS

You've had the paparazzi all over you.

ELTON JOHN

Yes, but that's hardly the same as Princess Diana. This was one of the most famous people in the world. I mean, you have the Pope, Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.

BARBARA WALTERS

What do you think about the paparazzi? Are they, in part, to blame for this tragedy?

ELTON JOHN

Of course they are.

BARBARA WALTERS

They are.

ELTON JOHN

Of course they are.

BARBARA WALTERS

What can be done about it? Any solutions?

ELTON JOHN

The actual responsibility lies with the editors and the owners of the newspapers.

BARBARA WALTERS

Because the public isn't saying please take a picture in the bedroom. Please take a picture in the car.

ELTON JOHN

No. I think some of these things that they publish and some of the photographs that they pay for are disgraceful.

BARBARA WALTERS

Do you know Prince Charles?

ELTON JOHN

Yes.

BARBARA WALTERS

Did Princess Diana ever discuss him?

ELTON JOHN

Yes, very fondly, actually.

BARBARA WALTERS

Really?

ELTON JOHN

Yes.

BARBARA WALTERS

At what occasions did she discuss him fondly?

ELTON JOHN

She said, "I saw my husband today. His car had broken down" ... (Laughter)

BARBARA WALTERS

This was after the divorce?

ELTON JOHN

During the ...

BARBARA WALTERS

During -- so she was delighted that the car broke down.

ELTON JOHN

She was giggling. She said, "I saw my husband today. His car had broken down." And she was giggling away.

BARBARA WALTERS

Do you think it was just two people who should never have married?

ELTON JOHN

Probably.

BARBARA WALTERS

Uh - huh.

ELTON JOHN

But you know, they produced two wonderful children. So what can you say?

BARBARA WALTERS

Tell me about Princess Diana's two sons. I mean, they're on everyone's minds now. And you've met these boys.

ELTON JOHN

Very briefly over lunch. And both of them love sport. Both of them love pop music. Just two very loving sons. I mean, adored by her and obviously adored her, too.
That's going to be the heartbreak on Saturday, to -- if, as it is muted that Prince William will walk after the coffin on the route, that will probably be one of the most moving images of the 20th century.

BARBARA WALTERS

When you look back, was there one particular time when you and Princess Diana just -- just had a ball together?

ELTON JOHN

I had a dinner at my house at Windsor, and we invited about 30 people, some film stars. And Princess Diana was the guest of honor. And we had -- there was one special film star that she was very excited to see and spent the whole evening talking to cross - legged on the floor, with those ...

BARBARA WALTERS

Who, who, who?

ELTON JOHN

Richard Gere. (Laughter)

BARBARA WALTERS

I remember reading about that.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. And the most incredible thing about Diana was she talked through her eyes. They're the most expressive eyes that you could possibly have imagined. And I just remember seeing her sitting on the floor looking up at him in complete awe.

BARBARA WALTERS

Now she is frozen in time ...

ELTON JOHN

Now.

BARBARA WALTERS

... forever, at the height of her beauty. How will you remember Princess Diana?

ELTON JOHN

Well, I think of her as someone who was desperately searching for love and happiness within herself and in her personal life. And was giving everything to others and maybe hadn't been given enough love on her own.
And now she's dead, she would have, I mean, no idea how much people loved her. It's a shame that she couldn't have known that in her lifetime. Hopefully, people will carry on and remember what she stood for and remember that she was compassionate and kind. And there's not enough of that in this world.

BARBARA WALTERS

You have the song that you wrote called Your Song.

ELTON JOHN

Yes. The last line of that song, "Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen."

(singing) Yours are the sweetest eyes I've
ever seen.

She had the most sweetest and the most beautiful eyes.

(singing) I hope you don't mind.  I hope you don't mind that I put
down in words how wonderful life is while you're in the world.

BARBARA WALTERS

You will miss her.

ELTON JOHN

Oh, absolutely. She's irreplaceable. Irreplaceable. Totally irreplaceable.

(singing) How wonderful life is while you're in the world.

HUGH DOWNS

Well, you can hear Elton John singing his song for Diana at Westminster Abbey tomorrow morning during our ABC News coverage, which begins at 2:00 am Eastern time. And Barbara, you and Peter Jennings are going to be on hand at 5:00 Eastern time.

BARBARA WALTERS

Well, we are going to be covering the entire funeral and on through the day until the burial of Princess Diana. The entire royal family will be here at Westminster Abbey tomorrow. Princess Diana's brother and sisters will read at the service, as will Prime Minister -- Britain's Prime Minister Blair.
This is not a state funeral. There has never been one like this before. Princess Diana's favorite hymns will be sung. And we feel that this is going to be a very emotional and very personal service.

The interview was broadcast on September 5 1997.