Elton John snubbed Prince Harry's request for being too 'macabre'

Prince Harry’s request was rejected by Sir Elton John for being too “macabre.”

Harry asked Elton John to perform Candle in the Wind to mark his mother Diana’s death anniversary, but the singer declined the request for being too "macabre".

In his memoir Spare, Harry recounts the incident, revealing that the Rocket Man hitmaker opted to sing Your Song instead of the song he sang at Diana’s funeral.

The Cold Heart hitmaker originally wrote Candle in the Wind with Bernie Taupin as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe in 1973. He rewrote the song for Diana and sang it at her funeral.

The singer recalled in his autobiography Me, that he was afraid he’d sing the original lyrics of the song at the-then Princess of Wales’ funeral.

He wrote, "What if I went into autopilot and sang the wrong version?"

Elton admitted that he’d always been against the use of teleprompters, but insisted on having one at the funeral.

"Up until then, I’d been against their use. Partly because it seemed antithetical to rock and roll’s spontaneous spirit — I’m pretty sure Little Richard wasn’t reading off an Autocue when he recorded Long Tall Sally — and partly because I just thought: Come on, do your job properly”

Elton continued: “I’d performed Candle In The Wind hundreds of times. It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that I might lose myself in the performance, forget about the teleprompter and start singing the original lyrics.”

Elton John was a close friend of Princess Diana and still supports her sons Prince William and Prince Harry.