Bryan Adams wanted to "save" Princess Diana.

Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

The 'Summer of '69' hitmaker befriended the princess when she was married to now-King Charles and they grew closer in her later years, and the 64-year-old star admitted their bond was one of the "greatest things" to ever happen to him.

Asked if he tried to "save" Diana, Bryan - who previously denied speculation he'd had an affair with the princess - told the Sunday Times magazine: “Uh-oh... Maybe, a bit.

"We had a lot of really, really good conversations, I have to tell you. In fact it’s strange and surreal to think about.

"I really, really liked Diana, she was an amazing woman and a super-great inspiration.

"Meeting her was truly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.”

The 'Heaven' hitmaker first met the late princess on a plane, where they struck up conversation about his 1984 b-side 'Diana', which features the lyrics: “The day that he married you, I nearly lost my mind/ Whatcha doing with a guy like him?”

Diana was aware of the song and after he sent her a copy, she invited him for tea, which sowed the seeds of their long friendship.

He said: “She was sitting and I was standing.

“I said, ‘I used your name on a song once,’ and Diana said, ‘Yes, I know, very funny. Actually I’d like to hear it again.’

"So I sent a copy to Kensington Palace, got an invitation to tea back and that’s how we became friends. When I first went round to KP [Kensington Palace] she wasn’t, like, ‘I really need to talk to somebody,’ and you don’t bulldoze into someone’s life wanting to know everything in the first ten minutes. It was, ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’ But later the more friendly we got the more I learnt what was really going on ”

Following Diana's death, Bryan "retired" the song.

He said: “The lyrics to Diana were just laddish humour. And actually the song was inspired by that guy who broken into the Queen’s bedroom and sat on her bed smoking a fag.

“Anyway, I retired it after Diana died out of respect to her and her boys.”

Tagged in