Diana’s Relationship With Dr. Hasnat Khan
Episode seven depicted Diana’s first meeting with the heart surgeon—during a visit with a friend at a London hospital—and offered a brief glimpse at their relationship. But it was no casual fling. The couple dated privately for two years, ending their romance just weeks before Diana’s death in August 1997.
In The Diana Chronicles, author Tina Brown said Diana referred to Khan as “the one,” though the notoriously private doctor never spoke publicly about their relationship until 2008. He revealed the pair had discussed marriage and that Diana traveled with him to Pakistan to meet his family in 1996.
“She really enjoyed her time when she came here,” Khan told the Mail on Sunday. “She also enjoyed the afternoon tea she had with my family. And I think she very much liked the Asian family’s eccentric culture.”
But the media attention on Diana proved too much for Khan to handle, the surgeon revealed in a 2008 inquest into her death.
“I knew I would not be able to lead a normal life,” Khan explained in a statement at the time. “My main concern about us getting married was that my life would be hell because of who she was.”
According to Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, Diana considered Khan her “soulmate.”
“This was the man she loved more than any other and it was a very deep, spiritual relationship,” Burrell said during the inquest. “I witnessed it at first hand and they were very much in love.”
