Elton John says 'the world lost an angel' as he pays tribute to Princess Diana 20 years on

Sir Elton John has paid a touching tribute to his close friend Diana, Princess of Wales, 20 years after she tragically died from injuries sustained in a Paris car crash.

Taking to Instagram, the 70-year-old music icon shared a vintage snap of himself and 'England's rose' laughing together with his 694K followers. The heartfelt caption read: "Twenty years ago today, the world lost an angel."

The Rocket Man, who meet Diana at Prince Andrew's 21st birthday, found out about her death through a fax sent by a friend offering condolences the next morning.

John famously revised the piano-led classic Candle In The Wind as a fitting tribute to the People's Princess and delivered an emotional performance of the song for the first time at her funeral on 6 September 1997 at Westminster Abbey.

He sang: "Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts," instead of the original opening line: "Goodbye Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all."

The track, rooted in sadness, has gone on to sell over 33 million copies worldwide and raised a staggering £138m ($176.7m) for the charities close to Diana's heart, through the Diana, Princess Of Wales Memorial Fund set up in her name just days after her death.

On the 10th anniversary of Diana's death in 2007, Prince Willaim and Harry gave John the honour of opening and closing a Wembley Stadium concert they had organised in memory of their mother.

John recently praised Diana for her philanthropic spirit in ITV's documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, saying he was happy that her youngest son, Prince Harry, was continuing her work as an Aids activist. In 1987, she shook the hand of an HIV-positive man in front of the world's media.

"She had that incredible ability -- which [Harry] kind of inherited -- to make people feel at ease and make them feel that everything's gonna be all right," he says. "I haven't experienced many people in my life who have that ability, but she could walk into a room of people and make them feel as if everything was great."