Diana's One True Love

Surgeon Hasnat Khan has finally broken his silence over the late princess

- Nici De Wet

She dubbed him her Mr Wonderful and he was widely regarded as the love of her life: the man who captured her heart and made her happy.

British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan gave Princess Diana the attention and affection she so craved after her years of bitterness with Prince Charles.

But for the doctor, it was an impossible, unsustainable relationship. He was a private man, she the most famous woman in the world. They split up not long before her death in 1997, and she started seeing Dodi Fayed – who died with her in a Paris tunnel in August of that year.

For years, Hasnat (62) maintained a dignified silence about his love affair with Diana, refusing to cash in on tell-all books or divulge secrets of his time with the doomed People’s Princess. But the doctor added his voice to the ongoing saga surrounding Diana’s infamous 1995 interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir.

Late last year Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, accused Bashir of using forged statements and false claims to land the scoop of the century (YOU, 19 November).

He went on to reveal a damning dossier on Bashir, where he recorded over 32 smears peddled by the journalist to win Diana over, including that her bodyguard was plotting against her, her close friends were betraying her and her car and phone were being bugged.

Spencer demanded the BBC launch a fresh inquiry into the interview, and a probe is under way.