Behind the scenes of Diana and Michael Jackson’s connection

“We were very close,” Jackson told German media in 1999. “She was extremely close by phone… I was still married to Lisa Marie [Presley]. Diana woke me up usually late at night… mostly after three in the morning! And then she held me for hours on the telephone. She talked mostly about her children, and the press.”

Michael claimed that Diana would keep him on the phone for hours.

”Lisa Marie used to get so jealous she would go into the other room, pick the receiver and listen in,” he said.

Whether or not the late-night calls truly happened remains unconfirmed. According to Diana’s friends who spoke with The Express, Jackson reportedly never had Diana’s private number. If he called Kensington Palace, staff were instructed not to connect him to the princess.

But what we do know is that the two shared similar experiences and a passion for the same causes.

Both Diana and MJ were deeply engaged in civic causes. When they first met, the humanitarian Jackson had donated $188,000 to the youth-oriented Prince’s Trust charity and an additional $126,000 to the children’s charity at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The couple also shared a similar taste in jewelry. Both Michael and Diana were clients of one of England’s leading fashion jeweler, Butler & Wilson.