Nicki Minaj mocked for calling Princess Diana 'a dear friend of mine' as she pays tribute at UK concert

BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM: Nicki Minaj observed “a moment of silence” for her “dear friend”, the late Princess Diana, but the innocuous act has, however, left many a fan displeased.

The Queen of Rap paid a sweet homage to the late British royal, but the act did not sit well with everyone as many fans pointed out the ‘Tusa’ rapper could not have been more than 13 or 14 when Diana passed away in 1997.

Nicki Minaj pays tribute to ‘dear friend’ Princess Diana

During her Sunday, May 26 gig in Birmingham, United Kingdom for her Pink Friday 2 Tour stop, the 41-year-old rapper - who was previously arrested at Amsterdam Airport for allegedly carrying soft drugs - paused to interact with her fans for a few moments. 

In one such fan-captured footage, the ‘Anaconda’ rapper was seen interacting with her fans at Resorts World Arena and asking them where they were from, per People. 

After a fan replied they were from Wales, the Trinidadian singer repeated “Wales” and changed into a British accent.

She continued, “It always reminds me of a dear friend of mine,” before adding, “Well, she’s not here anymore, but the Princess of Wales.”

The rapper further went on to pay homage to the late royal. Pursing her hands together and putting her head down, the ‘Starships’ rapper asked everyone to hold “a moment of silence for her.”

After a few moments of silence, she resumed her performance again.

While the gesture received appreciation from quite a lot of Barbz, some of the netizens were quick to point out that the ‘Barbie World’ rapper and Princess Diana could never be friends as Minaj was hardly a young teenager when the royal died.

Some fans also speculated that Minaj’s homage could have been an indirect shade toward her former friend Ice Spice with whom she collaborated on a song called ‘Princess Diana’. 

The two pop stars allegedly fell out recently over the publishing rights of their song ‘Barbie World’, and are no longer in friendly terms. 

Meanwhile, Minaj may not be a “dear friend” of Diana, she certainly is an admirer of her. She and Ice Spice collaborated on a song titled ‘Princess Diana’ where both the singer rap, “When we come out, it look like Princess Diana on the street.”

Nicki Minaj's statement receives a flurry of reactions

The rapper's statement elicited a mixed bag of reactions. While many of them called her out, others defended her saying it's just "Barbz business" and that she probably wasn't meaning "literally."

One of the fans said, "This feels like ice spice shade idk."

"She is ridiculous. She was like 13 or 14 when Diana died," said someone else.

Another netizen added, "Me remembering the year Princess Diana died and seeing this post."

"That awkward moment when you fabricate a friendship with a woman who died when you were 14... and people do the math,"

Someone else speculated, "Is this ice shade? Like meaning ice spice is dead to her?""

Another fan shared, "Like she’s a dear to her heart, ik alot of ppl would say the same thing ~ if yall take Nicki too seriously that’s really on yall."

"When non-barbz get involved in barbz business. Imagine thinking she meant it literally 😭😭😭," declared someone else.

"It’s a West Indian thing … i also said similar things about princess Diana," explained another fellow West Indian.

"She was 14 when Diana died," declared someone else.

"Umm 😂😂 she is talking about princess Diana song with ice spice 😁😁," said another fan.

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