Why Things Got ‘Out Of Hand’ After Princess Diana’s Death

The entire world was devastated when news broke of Princess Diana’s shocking and unexpected death at the age of 36 from a car accident back in 1997. However, while nearly everyone was mourning the loss of “The People’s Princess,” some felt that there was a point where things were getting too over the top.

In his autobiography “Me: Elton John,” the singer revealed that while he grieved the loss of his close friend at the time, he felt that the success of his re-recorded version of the song “Candle In The Wind,” which he performed at her funeral before releasing it as a charity single was bizarre, because he didn’t want to play it again himself and wasn’t sure why others wanted to.

“The funeral version of ‘Candle In The Wind’ became the biggest-selling single since the charts began,” he recalled (via Express UK). “There was part of me that couldn’t understand why anyone would want to listen to it. Under what circumstances would you play it? I never did. I listened back to it once at the studio to OK the mix and that was it: never again. In the end, I started feeling really uncomfortable with the single’s longevity.”

He also felt that because the song continued to remain on the charts, it also meant that his friend’s funeral stayed on TV for weeks after, and it became out of control to him because he didn’t think Diana would have wanted that either.

“Its success meant there was footage of Diana’s funeral week after week on Top Of The Pops—it almost felt like wallowing in her death, as if the mourning for her had got out of hand,” he said. “I really didn’t think that was what Diana would have wanted. And I didn’t want to do anything to prolong it any further.”

As a result, the singer has refused to ever include the single on any of his Greatest Hits albums since her death, nor has he re-released it a second time.

Despite Diana’s premature death, John and his husband, David Furnish, have remained close to the royal family, and the singer still has close relationships with her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The couple was present and attended both their weddings in 2011 and 2018 as well.