Prince Harry thanks Elton John for his friendship with Princess Diana

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a sweet virtual cameo over the course of Elton John’s farewell tour. In the heartfelt message, the glowy couple greeted the singer with a personal message talking about his friendship with their family, as well as Prince Harry’s mother Princess Diana.

“Hi Elton! We just want to say congratulations,” said Meghan. “We are just so proud of you and grateful that we were able to see you on your farewell tour.”

Prince Harry continued, “And thank you for entertaining everybody for so many decades, thank you for being the friend that you were to my mum, thank you for being our friend, thank you for being friends to our kids, thank you for entertaining people right around the world.”

“Even though this is officially your retirement, this will not be your last gig - we know that. But we love you and congratulations on an incredible career,” Prince Harry continued.

Elton John’s friendship with Princess Diana, as well as her son and Meghan, has been well documented over the years. The singer famously revised the lyrics to his song Candle in the Wind and performed it at her funeral for millions around the world. In his biography Me, Elton John recalled the pair first met in 1981 at a birthday party for Prince Andrew and said they “immediately clicked” while dancing. 

Although they both hit a rough spot in their friendship at one point, the pair later reconciled when their mutual friend Gianni Versace was murdered. Princess Diana was seen consoling Elton John in photographs from the memorial service as he wept. 

The Your Song singer has gone onto extend his friendship to Prince Harry and his family, with the royal couple seen visiting Elton John’s home in Nice. After the pair were criticised for taking a private jet to see John, he defended the couple in an Instagram statement saying he was “deeply distressed” by the response in 2019 - revealing he had organised their flight for them.

“Prince Harry's mother, Diana Princess of Wales was one of my dearest friends. I feel a profound sense of obligation to protect Harry and his family from the unnecessary press intrusion that contributed to Diana's untimely death,” he continued.

He continued, “I highly respect and applaud both Harry and Meghan’s commitment to charity and I’m calling on the press to cease these relentless and untrue assassinations on their character that are spuriously crafted on an almost daily basis.”

Elton John is set to retire after his years-long Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour, which wrapped its final American show last Sunday. Spanning numerous countries and cities, he is set to tour Australia, New Zealand and the UK next year.