King Charles reportedly stopped Michael Jackson from meeting Princes Harry and William over a "controversy" with Diana.

Michael, who died at the age of 50, was one of the biggest stars on the planet, pumping out hit after hit for adoring fans. He was also photographed wherever he went - thanks to his amazing stardom.

With the singer reaching the peak of his fame in the late 1980s, the pressure of the media attention began to weigh on Michael's mind. One person who shared in that terror from the press was Princess Diana, who herself was thrust onto the world stage due to her marriage to then-Prince Charles.

Due to their shared experiences, both Michael and Diana grew close to each other - understand each other's struggles and becoming good pals. But according to Jackson's former bodyguard, this caused friction between the future king and his wife at the time.

Speaking to podcast host James English, bodyguard Matt Fiddes explained that Michael and Diana were like kindred spirits. "He used to talk about Diana a lot – he said that she was his ideal wife," he recalled.

"They spent hours on the phone… she used to ring all the time and he used to ring her all the time. But Prince Charles - King Charles now - tried to put an end to it a lot."

Fiddes explained that in 2002, five years after Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris, Michael wished to meet Princes William and Harry to pay tribute to their mother. However, Charles had other ideas and blocked the royal boys from meeting the singer.

"Prince Harry and Prince William wanted to meet Michael," he said. "Obviously they knew their mum was friends with Michael Jackson – she used to go to the Wembley concerts during the ‘Bad' era and so on."

He continued: "We set it up, for Michael to meet them, but King Charles. We were told he had put a stop to it."

Jackson was due to meet the young royals at the House of Lords whilst he was in London at the time, but the peer that had organised the rendez-vous told Michael's team with hours to go that the plug had been pulled on the plan, with concerns over the "controversy" that would arise due to Diana's friendship to Michael.

Matt said: "We had a very official letter come through saying ‘Prince William and Prince Harry will not be meeting Michael Jackson’. That was hard, because we had to deliver the news to him and that's kind of why he came to London."

Fiddes also claimed that Jackson was due to receive an honorary knighthood by "certain people" who were in Government at the time. He added that by organising the meeting in the House of Lords, the deal could have been done there and then.