King Charles 'stopped' princes Harry and William from meeting Michael Jackson due to child abuse accusations
LONDON, ENGLAND: According to Michael Jackson's former bodyguard, Matt Fiddes, King Charles had to intervene to avert the meeting between the pop icon and Prince William and Prince Harry in 2002.
Jackson and Princess Diana enjoyed a special bond, however, Fiddes revealed that King Charles forbade his sons, William and Harry, from spending time with the King of Pop following allegations that he was being inappropriate with young boys.
King Charles restricted Michael Jackson's meeting with Prince William and Prince Harry
Michael Jackson was a global superstar at the height of his career who was constantly in the spotlight and followed wherever he went.
Princess Diana—who had dated Prince Charles at the time and had become an international celebrity practically overnight—was one of the few people who understood the pressure the platinum-selling musician was under.
Matt Fiddes claimed that the two had a close bond. In a conversation with the 'Anything Goes with James English' podcast he disclosed: "He used to talk about Diana a lot – he said that she was his ideal wife."
"They spent hours on the phone... she used to ring all the time and he used to ring her all the time," per OK! Magazine.
The singer's relationship with Diana was so strong that her kids, Harry and William, sought to meet the Kong of Pop. However, Fiddes stated that Charles "had put a stop" to a possible visit to London in 2002.
Diana died unexpectedly in 1997, and the pop star intended to meet her kids in London in 2002, but Charles supposedly refused.
Fiddes claimed, "Prince Harry and Prince William wanted to meet Michael. 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."
The meeting was to take place at the House of Lords. But at the last minute, Jackson's crew was told by the senior peer who set up the meeting that the then Prince of Wales was worried about possible controversy around the young princes meeting the celebrity.
Fiddes revealed: "We set it up, for Michael to meet them, but King Charles ... we were told he had put a stop to it."
"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," he added.
Doc 'Living with Michael Jackson' severely destroyed Michael Jackson's reputation
Matt Fiddes asserted that Jackson had believed that meeting the royals in the House of Lords would finalize the accord to become an honorary knighthood, having been promised one by "certain people in the government, and near the Royal Family."
The failed encounter took place just before Martin Bashir's 'Living with Michael Jackson' documentary, which Fiddes claimed was "a stitch-up" and which effectively damaged the singer's reputation, per The Mirror.
According to Evan Chandler's 1998 allegations, Jackson abused his then 13-year-old son, which prompted a financial settlement between the two families.
However, the 'Bad' singer's legal team insisted that the decision did not constitute an admission of guilt. Jackson's reputation suffered considerably from the incident, though he was never found guilty of any sex crimes.
However, the claims stated in the documentary did not stop some Royal insiders. For instance, Prince Harry continued to be a huge admirer of Jackson.
Fiddes remarked of Harry, "I met him at Cheltenham racecourse. He said 'You’ve got to introduce me to Michael, I want to find out a bit more about my mum'."
Regretfully, Jackson and Diana passed away before their time; the singer passed away from an overdose of painkillers on June 25, 2009 – 15 years ago.
