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Lorde has apologised for saying her friendship with Taylor Swift is like hanging out with someone with a serious illness.

The singer was asked in an interview what it is like being friends with someone as famous as Taylor.

"There are these different sets of considerations... It's like having a friend with an autoimmune disease," she told .

The disease causes the body's immune system to attack healthy cells.

There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disease, including type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease.

Lorde has been friends with Taylor for several years. In the interview, published in Saturday's newspaper, the 20-year-old suggested it takes effort to hang out together.

"It's like having a friend with very specific allergies," she said.

"There are certain places you can't go together. Certain things you can't do."

After it was published, a woman tweeted the New Zealander calling her comment "ignorant".

She asked how it would affect Selena Gomez, who has the autoimmune disease lupus.

The condition can cause extreme tiredness, rashes, joint pain and swelling, and in serious cases puts people at greater risk of infection, heart attacks or strokes.

Replying to the tweet, Lorde implied she'd been misquoted by The Guardian.

"Didn't mention Taylor, but regardless, I [messed] up & that was really insensitive. I'm sorry," she wrote.

The singer is currently touring Europe, and will play this weekend's Glastonbury Festival.

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