Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly royally snubbed from Elton John's super exclusive Oscars guest list in 2023, hinting that their friendship with the award-winning singer-songwriter is over.
A royal author has claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex deliberately skipped the star-studded event, branding their attendance a "political issue."
Tom Bower, known for his revenge-filled exposé of the couple in "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors" in 2022, claimed their absence was not a coincidence, per US Express.
"They weren't even invited to Elton John's party at the Oscars... they really are nobodies in Hollywood."
The "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" singer has always been Harry's ally, largely due to his longstanding friendship with Princess Diana, Harry's late mother. Elton also famously sang at Diana's funeral,
When the Sussexes were criticized for taking private jet flights while speaking about climate change, Elton came to their defense in 2019. The singer also stated that he had paid for the pair to stay at his house in the South of France. He called reports of the incident a "distorted and malicious account," as most media-published accounts skewed the facts.
However, tensions were allegedly caused after Elton, with his memoir, headed toward the Daily Mail, the same paper Harry had repeatedly railed against for its ugly history in the courts. Harry himself, as he acknowledged in his book Spare, was disappointed by the decision.
"I loved him. I'll always love him. And I also didn't want to spoil the holiday," the dad-of-two said, per the NY Post.
Read more: Elton John Brings Laughter After Introducing Brandi Carlile as Rihanna Amid Fading Eyesight
Never Perform 'Crocodile Rock' Again
Meanwhile, John is done with love when it comes to one of his signature songs. The iconic singer-songwriter just had that "Crocodile Rock" off his setlist for good.
He confessed on the Deeney Talks podcast that he loathes the song and will react with joy the day he does not have to sing it ever again. "It was written as a kind of a joke, like a pastiche."
The singer may not care for it personally, but he kept playing it to please the crowd.
"Who am I to say, 'I am not going to play it?' Because I play to amuse people and to entertain people," he said. "But I have to say, when the last show is done at the end of the tour, I will never, ever sing that song again."
Even his long-time collaborator, Bernie Taupin, hates it.
"'Crocodile Rock' is a strange dichotomy because I don't mind having created it, but it's not something I would listen to," Taupin previously told Esquire.
The song was released in 1972 and became John's first US No. 1 hit and a four-week No. 1 in Canada. "Crocodile Rock was also the subject of a lawsuit when Buddy Kaye, who wrote the track "Speedy Gonzales," accused John of stealing chords from his track, inspired by Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock." The lawsuit was eventually settled.
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