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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have a Special Relationship with Elton John and David Furnish

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have a Special Relationship with Elton John and David Furnish


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Elton John might be music royalty—but he also has strong connections to the actual British royal family. Though he was not born a royal, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1998, after years of friendship with the late Princess Diana. Since the Princess of Wales's death, he's maintained a relationship with both of her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. John and his husband, David Furnish, a filmmaker, attended both of their royal weddings and have spoken about their friendships with the two princes publicly.

John and Furnish have a particularly special bond with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, which only seems to have grown since the royals moved to California. Now, Meghan and Furnish are developing a new Netflix animated series together, tentatively titled Pearl, on which they both will serve as executive producers.

In light of two couples' new professional relationship, we decided to take a look back at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's long history with Elton John and David Furnish.

Photo credit: NIKLAS HALLE'N - Getty Images
Photo credit: NIKLAS HALLE'N - Getty Images

Elton John was a friend of Princess Diana.

John's bond with the royal family began even before Prince Harry was born. John met Princess Diana at a party in 1981 and the pair became famously close. John discussed this friendship in his 2019 memoir, Me: Elton John.

When they first met, the pair "immediately clicked," John recalled, and "ended up pretending to dance the Charleston while hooting at the disco’s feebleness." He added, "She was fabulous company... a real gossip: you could ask her anything and she’d tell you."

John also noted that Diana was "blessed with an incredible social ease, an ability to make people feel totally comfortable in her company," a quality that he believes Princes William and Harry have as well.

Photo credit: GERARD JULIEN - Getty Images
Photo credit: GERARD JULIEN - Getty Images

After Diana's death, John performed her song, "Candle in the Wind," at the funeral at Westminster Abbey. The singer even changed some of the lyrics to honor the late Princess.

"There was a sense in which it was the biggest gig of my life—for four minutes, I was literally going to be the center of the world's attention—but equally, it wasn't an Elton John moment, it wasn't about me at all," John later said.

Also in his memoir, John discussed some of his interactions with Queen Elizabeth. "I know the Queen’s public image isn’t exactly one of wild frivolity, but... in private she could be hilarious," the musician wrote.

Photo credit: Anwar Hussein - Getty Images
Photo credit: Anwar Hussein - Getty Images

John spent time with Harry and Meghan before they were engaged.

In summer 2017, Prince Harry spent time with Elton John in Sicily. The pair's connection grew during their time together, and John got to see Harry's relationship with Meghan first-hand.

"I could tell that he was totally in love," John said in a 2018 ITV interview. "He didn't really discuss much personally but he said 'I'm in love' and I thought 'good for you.' Both of those boys seem to be ecstatically happy and that's all you want people to be."

In the same interview, John also shared how Harry resembles his mother, Princess Diana. "She was just loved by people because she had that great ability—which her son, Prince Harry, has inherited—where she could walk into a room of people and make them feel at ease, as if she'd know them all her life," John said. "That's an incredible talent to have." John added that Princess Diana "would be proud of her boys."

Photo credit: Michael Kovac - Getty Images
Photo credit: Michael Kovac - Getty Images

He performed at Meghan and Harry's wedding reception.

Not only did John and Furnish attend the 2018 royal wedding, the singer held a special performance at the private reception. Prince Harry reportedly introduced John by ending a short speech he gave at the luncheon with the joke, "Does anyone here know how to play the piano?" John then took the stage and played his hit songs, "Your Song," "Tiny Dancer," "Circle of Life," and "I'm Still Standing."

Apparently, Prince Harry requested the performance due to his special bond with the singer. Per a Kensington Palace statement, "Prince Harry asked Sir Elton to perform at the Reception which was hosted by Her Majesty The Queen at St George's Hall, Windsor Castle. Sir Elton performed for the newly married couple in recognition of the close connection he has with Prince Harry and his family."

Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images
Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images

After the wedding, John spoke out about the event's importance in modernizing the Crown. He also noted that he greatly enjoyed attending the day's ceremonies.

"It was very, very wonderful to be there. To have a black gospel choir, a multiracial bride, a black cellist, who was wonderful, a preacher—it felt like a party, and it felt like progress had been made. Thank god, thank god," John told CNN.

John has also publicly defended the royal couple.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex received quite a bit of public criticism after they took a private jet to stay at John's house in Nice, France. Given the couple's climate change activism, many found the mode of transport to be hypocritical. John issued a statement disavowing these critiques.

"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," the statement read.

John noted that he and Furnish were the ones that provided the Sussexes with the jet, and that they made sure to offset their private plane flight.

"To support Prince Harry’s commitment to the environment, we ensured their flight was carbon neutral, by making the appropriate contribution to Carbon Footprint™," he wrote.

Photo credit: Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images
Photo credit: Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

John also defended the Sussexes' decision to sue the British tabloids.

"They were very upset that their phones had been hacked," he told NPR. "I said, 'Listen, you take the appropriate action you want to take. You have to know that when you take appropriate action like this, there are going to be consequences and people are not going to like it. But if you feel like you have an injustice….'"

"I've always lived my life fighting injustice with the press," he noted. "I like the press, there's a need for the press, but sometimes they step out of their bounds. And hacking phones is not acceptable. If your phone is hacked, you've got to take action because the press cannot do that. So I have to say, 'Bravo.'"

John and Furnish are collaborating with the Duke and Duchess in entertainment ventures.

John was one of many bold-faced names to appear on the Duke and Duchess's holiday episode of their Archewell Audio podcast. John joined Stacey Abrams, José Andrés, Brené Brown, Deepak Chopra, James Corden, Naomi Osaka, and Tyler Perry, among others, on the special episode.

Meghan and Furnish are also both serving as executive producers on Pearl, a new Netflix animated series. The series is slated to be about a 12- year-old-girl who is inspired by the stories of influential, historical women.

“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,” Meghan said in a press release announcing the series. “I’m thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix, and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history."


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