Los Angeles, Dec 10 (IANS): Singer-songwriter Bryan Adams recently opened up on the beginning of his close friendship with Princess Diana.

The singer, 64, showered the late princess with praise and kind words “straight from the heart”, report People magazine.

He spoke in a new interview with The Sunday Times and recollected his friendship with the late princess. “We had a lot of really, really good conversations, I have to tell you. In fact it’s strange and surreal to think about,” he told the outlet. “I really, really liked Diana, she was an amazing woman and a super-great inspiration. Meeting her was truly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.”

As per People, he said he was introduced to the princess on an aeroplane after he co-wrote and released the song called ‘Diana’, which many believed was inspired by the princess’ 1981 marriage to Prince Charles.

“I said, ‘I used your name on a song once,’ and Diana said, ‘Yes, I know, very funny. Actually I’d like to hear it again’,” he recalled. “So I sent a copy to Kensington Palace, got an invitation to tea back and that’s how we became friends.”

Their friendship grew over time, he said. “When I first went round to [Kensington Palace] she wasn’t, like, ‘I really need to talk to somebody,’ and you don’t bulldoze into someone’s life wanting to know everything in the first 10 minutes," he continued. "It was, ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’ But later, the more friendly we got the more I learnt what was really going on.”

Adams said the lyrics to "Diana" were “laddish humour,” and noted that the original inspiration behind the song was from “that guy who (had) broken into the Queen’s bedroom and sat on her bed smoking.” However, he noted that he “retired (the song) after Diana died out of respect to her and her boys”.