All The Men Princess Diana Was Romantically Linked To
“I lead from the heart and not the head. I do things differently because I don’t go by a rulebook…”
Back in 1981, Britain was eagerly awaiting the upcoming Royal wedding. At the time, Lady Diana Spencer was just an ordinary 19-year-old girl who had absolutely zero idea of what she was about to get herself into…
Prince Charles was 32 and feeling the pressure of having to settle down with a wife that was ‘suitable’ enough to fit into Royal life.
The media went crazy…Charles & Diana were on the front of every newspaper in the months running up to their big day; little did we know that the pair had only actually met 12 times before they tied the knot.
The young Diana was catapulted into ‘stardom’ and before she knew it, she couldn’t go anywhere without being hounded by paparazzi. Her every move was followed and there was nothing she could do without it being plastered across the front page of every newspaper in Britain.
Their rocky relationship was only the tip of the tabloid iceberg…
1. Prince Charles.
Ten years before marrying Diana, Charles started dating his current wife, Camilla. Her grandfather was a baron, they both ran in the same circles so why didn’t the pair just get married then?
Camilla and Charles dated in the 70s…
Historians and royal experts believe she wasn’t from enough of an aristocratic background to make a serious contender for a future queen.
(It is tempting to wonder how history would have played out if they had just stayed together in the first place…)
She was Charles’ first love…
Charles & Diana’s ‘love story’ (if you can call it that) started when Princess Di was just 16-years-old.
Growing up in a very upper-class family, the Spencers were often invited to events rubbing shoulders with the Royals & their friends.
Diana and her brother in the 70s…
Diana’s eldest sister – Lady Sarah – actually dated Charles first; when things didn’t work out for the pair, she decided to set her young sister up with the ‘charming Prince’, who immediately took a serious interest in Diana as a potential bride.
Now, at the time, Prince Charles was under immense pressure from his father – Prince Phillip – to get married, settle down and have a family of his own.
Charles & Diana in Balmoral…
As the future King of England, he ‘needed to do what was right’ and the right thing was to marry Diana…
…someone he thought would fit into the Royal family perfectly (Oh, how he was wrong).
Cue Lady Diana Spencer…
Charles & Camilla when they were dating…
They were the perfect match on paper for the Royals, but in reality they couldn’t have been more wrong; from the very beginning, their ill-fated union spiralled into years of scandal and heartbreak, shocking not only the Royals but the rest of the world.
Charles and Diana’s wedding was watched by over 750 million people across the globe, with people around the globe excited to watch them walk down the aisle to start their new life together.
The Royal wedding…
But what people could not see was how unhappy the both of them already were…
In an exclusive Panorama interview in 1995, Diana explained that deep down she wasn’t actually happy.
Diana’s panorama interview…
Shortly before they were due to marry, the stress of everything got too much – which led to Diana developing bulimia.
Diana said:
“The bulimia started the week after we got engaged (and would take nearly a decade to overcome.)…
Charles took Diana to meet his family after meeting her just a handful of times…
…My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered something in me. And the Camilla thing. I was desperate, desperate.”
At just 19, Diana lacked the confidence that seemingly came so easily and naturally to Camilla.
Camilla & Diana…
Throughout their engagement, the press became weirdly obsessed over the question of her virginity after it was reported she had two late-night meetings on a train with Charles.
She said at the start of their relationship:
“Prince Charles would ring me up every day and then not contact me for weeks; he wasn’t very consistent in his courtship,” she said.
Their relationship was never going to work out…
“I was brought up in a way that when you got engaged to someone, you loved them,” she said.
They were often spotted arguing in public…
Over their 12 years of marriage, their most intimate secrets were splashed across every newspaper in the country; what the public didn’t realise at the time was the extent of what was going on behind the closed doors of Kensington Palace.
Reminiscing on her big day, Diana remembered it was the worst day of her life: far from the fairytale spectacle we all watched on our TV screens.
Diana’s famous dress…
You would think that newlyweds would be ‘all over each other’, but Diana later spoke about how her new husband only wanted sex once every three weeks: a pattern she thought came about because of his secret relationship with Camilla.
In tapes that were released after her death, she said:
“If I could write my own script I would have my husband go away with his woman and never come back.”
The Waleses…
The Princess’ pregnancy was announced soon after they married; 12 weeks into her pregnancy she threw herself down the stairs, later admitting she felt “so inadequate” – the Charles and Camilla situation was already too much for the young Princess to deal with.
“Well, there were three of us in this marriage…so it was a bit crowded”
After the royal wedding…
She had tried everything she could, confronting Camilla didn’t help in the slightest and when Diana broke down in front of her mother-in-law, she was left feeling dissatisfied with the response she got.
Diana explained:
“So I went to the top lady, sobbing, and I said ‘what do I do. I’m coming to you, what do I do?’ And she said ‘I don’t know what you should do. Charles is hopeless’.
“And that was it, and that was help.”
Diana never felt good enough for Charles…
After the birth of both of her sons, things only got worse for Diana. It wasn’t until the is 80s she was sent from the family home in Balmoral to a clinic in London to be treated for depression and bulimia nervosa – an illness that was rarely recognised, let alone talked about at the time.
The years of suffering in silence took their toll on the Princess and she could no longer hide away.
The age difference played a huge role in why the pair never fully hit it off…
The suicide attempts, self-harming and bulimia was treated, but rather than find the cause of her problems the family brushed it under the carpet – what they do best.
“I was crying out for help, but giving the wrong signals, and people were using my bulimia as a coat on a hanger: they decided that was the problem — Diana was unstable,” she said.
Diana never felt welcome around the family…
Her honesty about her struggles helped chip away at the stigma surrounding mental health and eating disorders.
Charles and Diana’s incompatibility and age difference became visible and damaging, in effect pushing Diana into the arms of another man…
The pair had nothing in common…
It wasn’t until 1992 when the Queen ordered them to get divorced, that the pair finally went their separate ways.
2. Barry Mannakee.
Princess Diana was one of the most desirable women on the planet, but falling for her came at a cost…
Being one of the most famous women on earth meant Diana had to have a lot of protection everywhere she went.
Diana couldn’t leave the house without being hounded by the paparazzi…
Imagine not even being able to walk out of your front door without having someone a couple of steps behind you – it would get very monotonous, wouldn’t it?
Well, not for Diana. Having that person there with her at all times meant she was no longer ‘alone’.
She was never seen without her bodyguard…
One of her earliest affairs was with her bodyguard and confidant, Barry Mannakee, who worked at Kensington Palace for a year.
That was before he was sacked when he was spied comforting a very depressed and low Diana…
Diana only felt happy when Barry was around…
By 1985, Diana was the mother of two young Princes; although her life seemed to be perfect from the outside, she was battling anti-natal depression amongst other ‘mental illnesses’, with barely any help.
As Diana’s paranoia about Camilla and Charles continued to consume her, so did her need to be loved.
Charles & Diana in the late 80s…
Cue married bodyguard Barry Mannakee…the 37 year old (married) police officer.
The 37-year-old married police officer was transferred from his role as the bodyguard for Princess Diana, following what was described as an “inappropriate” relationship.
Barry became her close friend and confidant…
“I was only happy when he was around,” she said in a video obtained by NBC.
Rumours began circulating in both the palace and the police circles, that Sargeant Barry Mannakee had become ‘too close’ to the Princess and that a senior member of Charles’ staff had found them in a ‘compromising position’ the evening before the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
The paparazzi hounded her everywhere she went…
Now, you might not have remembered what happened in the late seventies with Princess Anne and her bodyguard, but the Queen definitely did and she wasn’t about to let another scandal of the sort sweep Buckingham Palace.
Barry & Diana’s relationship (what really happened, nobody knows) was enough to cost him his posting.
Barry escorted Diana to most events…
He was immediately “chucked out” and in tapes showed in Channel 4s Diana: In Her Own Words, she claimed her ‘true love’ had been “bumped off” – a rather sensational claim.
“When I was 24 or 25 I was deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment [security],” she said.
He looked after the Princes…
“I was quite happy to give it all up … just to go off and live with him. And he kept saying he thought it was a good idea too.
“But then he was chucked out and he was killed.
“Eventually he had to go and then three weeks after he left he was killed in a motorbike accident.
“I never should have played with fire,” she said.
“He was the greatest love I’ve ever had, and that was a real killer.”
He even helped Diana hide from the paparazzi…
Although some of Diana’s close friends have claimed the pair never had any sort of ‘relationship’, dismissing any rumours as completely absurd, rumours continued to circulate.
Diana once stated he was
“the greatest friend [she’s] ever had” – but denied any sexual relationship with him.
She believes he was killed off by ‘the establishment’…
Diana’s tapes were found in 2001, 4 years after her death; although her side of the story was now known to the public, a lot of people still had their own side to tell.
One person being Diana’s ex-lover, James Hewitt – who claimed the Princess had admitted to him that Mannakee had shared her bed and even gifted her a brown teddy which she kept in her bedroom.
The pair were reportedly having an affair…
Conspiracy theorists believe Mannakee’s ‘close relationship’ with the Princess was the reason he was ‘bumped off’.
However, Diana always claimed the allegations were untrue; spread by Prince Charles’ ‘camp’ as a smear campaign.
He was a married police officer with two children himself…
No one will truly ever know. What we do know is that Mannakee, who was 15 years her senior, was not only her protector but her close friend, a good listener and someone she even saw as a father figure.
3. James Hewitt.
By 1986, Charles’ affair with Camilla was back in full swing and Diana had completely given up on any chance of their marriage being saved.
Camilla was never too far away from Charles…
The 26-year-old Princess had lost one of her best friends, Barry Mannakee, and was still desperately lonely, not knowing who to trust or confide in.
Cue seedy cavalry officer James Hewitt…
You might know James Hewitt as the rumoured father of Prince Harry, Princess Diana’s red-haired horse riding coach who tried to seduce her at a charity event, or even the sleaze ball who tried to sell stories on her after her death.
Diana gave up on her marriage with Charles…
At the time, Hewitt was a polo player and cavalry officer who ran in the same circles as the Royals.
He promised the young Princess to help her overcome her fear of horses; as Diana became more jealous of Charles’ relationship with Camilla the more she craved something she couldn’t have.
James Hewitt caught her eye in the summer of 86…
Hewitt slowly wormed his way in; he gave the lonely royal the attention she craved and even showered her with gifts.
It was around the time Prince Charles was widely reported to be cheating on Diana when her five-year affair started with Hewitt.
Whilst Charles rekindled his affair with Camilla…
Her former protection officer and confidante, Ken Wharfe, wrote about the affair in his book Diana: Closely Guarded Secret.
“Hewitt, a natural womaniser, gave her the attention and affection she relished, and then the passion she yearned for.
James and Charles were friends…
“At first, Diana refused to concede to me that her affair was anything less than innocent. ‘Nothing is going on,’ she would say, her face flushing red, as we drove back from a tryst, usually with the atmosphere tense in the car.
“I would assure her that I had no interest in anything but her safety, but she must have thought I was stupid or deaf.
He was a close friend to some of the other royals…
“The pair usually met at an old cottage in Devon belonging to Shirley, Hewitt’s mother, where the creaking bedroom floorboards told the story more loudly than any confession.”
Five years after the pair met, they were forcibly separated when Hewitt was deployed to serve in the gulf war before splitting permanently when their affair was exposed to the media.
Rumours started circulating around Kensington Palace…
Yet again, Wharfe came to Princess Di’s aide when rumours started circulating that Hewitt was Prince Harry’s dad – saying it was all nonsense and it had “greatly angered” Princess Diana.
He said:
“A simple comparison of dates proves it is impossible for Hewitt to be Harry’s father. Only once did I ever discuss it with her, and Diana was in tears about it.
Rumour has it James Hewitt is Prince Harry’s father…
“Harry was born on September 15, 1984, which means he was conceived around Christmas 1983, when his brother, William, was 18 months old.
“Diana did not meet James Hewitt until the summer of 1986.
He was a well known playboy…
“The red hair that gossips so love to cite as ‘proof’ is, of course, a Spencer trait, as anyone who has ever seen a photograph of Diana’s sister, Jane, for example, as a young woman will be able to testify.”
Both James and Diana have strongly denied the claims along with many of their friends.
Both parties strongly deny claims the James is Harry’s father…
Hewitt wasn’t to be trusted: Diana learnt the hard way when he betrayed her, co-operating with author Anna Pasternak on her 1994 book Princess In Love – which revealed their five-year relationship to the whole country.
“Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down.”
James betrayed Diana’s trust…
Not only did he revealed their deepest secrets, but he also attempted to sell Diana’s letters to him for £10 million after her death – proving how much of a snake he really is…
Nowadays, the 59-year-old lives with his mother in Dorset. When asked if he regrets falling in love with Diana he replied:
The pair apparently never spoke again…
“No, I don’t regret that,”
“I regret some of the things that have been caused by that but not that at all. No way.”
You know how the saying goes…what goes around comes around – Hewitt learnt that the hard way.
4. James Gilbey.
During the late 80s, while deeply involved with Hewitt, Diana got herself involved with another man…
James and Diana were childhood friends…
…a man Diana had known since her childhood.
Cue James Gilbey…
The Lotus Car Executive and gin dynasty heir may have kissed Diana, but he certainly never told – proving he was far more loyal than Diana’s prior lover, James Hewitt.
The Princess never loved Gilbey like she did Hewitt…
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Although she always strongly denied ever having an affair with Gilbey, their ‘lovey-dovey’ recorded phone calls that were leaked to the press said otherwise.
The then 27-year-old Princess was no stranger to playing off one admirer against another; although Gilbey was infatuated with her, she never seemed to feel the same adoration for him that she possessed for James.
He was always there for Diana…
Having not one, not two but three men on the go at one time meant Diana had to trust in more friends to provide ‘safe houses’ and ‘hiding places’ away from prying eyes.
Given the illicit lifestyles of the Prince and Princess, both of them relied heavily on their mobiles to carry out their secret lifestyles.
The papers were all over Diana for weeks…
image source
Gilbey – the man at the centre of the “squidgygate” scandal was caught on tape having intimate phone conversations with the then married Princess on what she called her “talking brick”.
Most standard citizens would never have to worry about their phone calls being listened in on, but Diana wasn’t any ordinary citizen.
The Queen was furious over the “squidgygate” scandal…
A branch of the intelligence service routinely listened in on phone calls made by Diana, where she could be heard raging about Charles’ affair, clearly oblivious to her own infidelities.
In one incriminating phone call, Diana could be heard warning Gilbey she could not afford to get pregnant with his child; he called her darling 53 times on that call and ‘squidgy’ – hence the name “squidgygate”.
Diana was understandably very embarrassed…
Diana admitted on more than one occasion that she never “felt good enough for the family” and thought the establishment was “out to get her” – it’s a little wonder when you find out what happened next…
The captured tapes were broadcast on radio frequencies monitored by amateur hams and scanners – the secret agents couldn’t take the tapes to the papers themselves, but they certainly knew how to make sure someone did.
The Queen no longer wanted Charles and Diana to stay married…
Shortly after, Diana ended their relationship and got the ball rolling in regards to ‘escaping the firm’.
The royals separated soon after the “Camillagate” incident in the December of 1992, after the Queen sent them a written order.
It was the final straw…
Gilbey then broke up with his fiancee Lady Alethea Savile who stood by him through it all – two years later she died of a drug overdose.
But that wasn’t the end of Diana’s affairs – she and Charles didn’t actually divorce officially for another four years.
“Squidgygate” was followed by “Camillagate” – more embarrassment for the Royal family…
In those four years, Diana embarked on a few other affairs…little did we all know of course…
5. Oliver Hoare.
Life as a Princess was anything but quiet and 1992 was quite a busy year for the Princess in every sense of the word. The whole “squidgygate” incident had everyone gossiping about the state of Charles and Diana’s marriage.
Oliver and his wife often visited the royals…
And before the pair finally called it quits on the most disastrous marriage of the century, Diana decided to embark on yet another affair.
This time with an Islamic art dealer and aristocrat who was 16 years Diana’s senior (It’s safe to say she liked the older man).
The pair were often seen chatting alone…
Diana was yet again in a dark place after her father, Earl Spencer, passed away in March 1992.
Cue Oliver Hoare…
She found solace in the arms of old Etonian and close friend of Charles. After meeting him at Ascot 6 years earlier, Lady Di immediately took a shining to the married art dealer.
Diana enjoyed the attention…
When Oliver and his wife stayed at Windsor Castle, Diana quickly became infatuated with him. His thick, dark, wavy hair and his smouldering good looks turned Diana into a giggling school girl every time he was around.
When the marriage moved closer to tipping point, Hoare and his wife became intermediaries; with Hoare spending hours in Diana’s private rooms at Kensington Palace – it wasn’t long before he was more than just a friend.
He was close friends with Charles…
One night in 1992, Diana’s protection officer Ken Wharfe found a half-naked Oliver Hoare hiding behind a huge plant. He had been smoking a cigar outside Diana’s room because the Princess hated the smell of smoke, she must have sent him out but accidentally set the fire alarms off in the entire palace – awkward!
After their affair became public knowledge, many people believed Diana chose Hoare because he was also a close friend of Camilla and could keep her up to date about her arch nemesis.
But also close friends with Camilla – Diana’s ‘love rival’…
Hoare’s heiress wife threatened divorce forcing him to break off his relationship with Diana, but since then the life of the art dealer hasn’t been completely plain sailing…
He was accused of embezzling funds from Qatar before the charges were dropped – in 2015 he lost his driving license for 17 months after being pulled over following a boozy afternoon.
Things weren’t always plain sailing for him after his affair…
Thanks to his link to Diana he didn’t escape making headlines in 2015 – Hoare sadly passed away earlier this year age 73 to cancer.
6. Theodore Forstmann.
Now Diana and Charles were separated, she was finally free to live her own life. Well, not completely free but she didn’t have to sneak men into her rooms or rely on friends to provide her with safe houses.
Diana’s style evolved over the years…
On June 29 1994, Diana, Princess of Wales, slipped on a figure-hugging black cocktail dress; which later became known as “the revenge dress” and headed to Vanity Fair’s annual fundraising event in London’s Hyde Park.
It was only the night before Charles had revealed that he had been unfaithful to Diana throughout their marriage…
Diana completely changed her look…
…in a much-anticipated TV interview, but the next day it was Diana who made more headlines.
Who was this Diana?
We didn’t recognise her, there was something different about her…she seemed happy.
The ‘revenge dress’…
The ‘new Diana’ was introduced to the rest of the world; the one who didn’t need the Royal family – especially not Charles.
Following her separation with Charles, Diana firmly established herself as a fashion icon and very modern woman – the revenge dress only sealed the deal.
She looked like a new woman…
Single Diana seemed unstoppable, including a billionaire entrepreneur who immediately took a shining to the blonde bombshell that was Princess Diana.
Cue Theodore Forstmann…
So how does a billionaire woo one of the most desirable women in the world you ask?
Theodore became known to US intelligence…
He could sweep her away on his private jet and take her to a beautiful city like Paris…
When money is no object, Theodore could have done almost anything to impress one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Theodore was still in touch with Diana when she died…
Well, Forstmann reportedly sent Diana flowers every day for three years.
I don’t know about you, but if I was Diana and I’d just been involved in the “squidgygate” incident, I’d be very careful of what I was saying on my “talking brick” – a term Diana regularly used in reference to her mobile.
All eyes were on Diana at all times…
U.S intelligence agencies had bugged Forstmann’s phone or plane, monitoring his relationship with the newly single Princess.
Can you imagine living your life with all eyes on you…even your most intimate conversations being listened in on by intelligence agencies around the world.
Spotted together with the two Princes…
In true Diana style, she had planned to visit him in summer 1997 with her two sons, but her plans were scrapped after security reportedly blocked the visit.
After a couple of years, things were just not meant to be for the pair; Forstmann reluctantly broke off their romance to reunite with his ex-partner Deborah Hagerty.
Diana and Theodore stayed friends…
Theodore passed away, aged 71, in November 2011 after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
7. John Kennedy Jr.
You know how the saying goes…’there’s no smoke without fire’…and most of us will agree, there usually isn’t.
People betrayed Diana left, right and centre…
But when you’re one of the most famous and desirable women with already a little bit of a reputation for being a male magnet, you’re always going to have leaches of society stirring the pot as much as they can to tarnish your name…
Diana spent a lot of time with ‘energy healer’ Simone Simmons during and after her marriage to Charles – she published a book after Diana’s death detailing some of her “biggest secrets”.
John Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette…
When I say “biggest secrets” it could all be complete bull; after all, anyone who comes out telling the world their ‘friends’ secrets after they’ve died can’t be that much of a trustworthy person.
The book, by Simone Simmons, ‘rambles’ on about how Princess Diana had an affair with John Kennedy Jnr.
JFK Jnr told his friends Diana ‘had a great pair of legs’…
The encounter was “a moment of pure lust” at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan.
“We started talking, one thing led to another – and we ended up in bed together. It was pure chemistry,” Simmons alleges Diana told her, according to The Sun.
Rumours were circulating…
But friends of the late Princess dismissed all claims as “simply untrue”.
“Simone has thrown the eye of a newt and bats’ wings into a pot and concocted a fantastical story of nonsense in pretty much the same vein as the mystical rubbish she used to feed the princess,” Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, wrote in a rival British tabloid, The Daily Mirror.
JFK Jnr with his wife Carolyn…
“What none of us should believe is the untruthful, unsupported, nonevidenced invention from Simone that the princess had an affair with JFK Jr. This is simply untrue,” Burrell wrote in The Daily Mirror.
According to RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.’s executive assistant who accompanied him to the hotel that day, his meeting with the Princess was way more innocent than people thought, however, organising the meeting was very difficult.
Diana leaving the hotel after meeting JFK Jr…
8. Will Carling.
Diana was at the height of her popularity, she was looking the best she ever had and she was living her life just how she wanted.
Diana and Will met in the early 90s…
As rumours were circulating about Diana and John Kennedy Jnr, so did rumours about a fling with an England rugby player – like some of her other love interests, he too was married.
Cue Will Carling…
Princess Di was loved by many, that’s for sure…but not by everyone; one person being Will Carling’s wife and TV presenter Julia Carling.
The pair became ‘friends’…
Now a lot of rumours went around about Diana and Carling and a lot of them will probably be complete and utter rubbish.
But one thing is for sure, Will’s now ex-wife Julia blamed Diana for the breakdown of her marriage.
Will’s ex-wife blames Diana for their marriage breakdown…
After meeting each other at the Harbour Club in Chelsea, West London; Diana, eyed up the hunky sportsman, asking him for ‘private training sessions’.
I’m not sure what man at the time would turn down that kind of offer from a Princess?
Princess Diana took her sons to watch his rugby game…
Diana’s ‘energy healer’ Simone said:
“Diana was worried she was looking too skinny and bony across the shoulders.
“Will went to the palace to give her personal training and they saw each other almost every day at the gym.
Will and Julia before their divorce…
“He was smuggled in the back of her car under a blanket from the gym but there was no affair.”
The flirting continued when Diana took her two sons to watch a rugby game.
Carling’s wife Julia later lashed out, saying:
“I am sad that Will put himself in that position, and that the Princess did as well. This has happened to her before, and you hope she won’t do these things again, but obviously she does.”
Will was warned to stay away from Diana…
Just like a lot of stories made up about the Princess, some were true some were not so true and I guess we will never find out what really happened with this particular ‘love story’…
9. Bryan Adams.
It wasn’t until a decade after the Canadian musician released his single “Diana” that the world found out they shared more than just a song…
Bryan’s hit song “Diana” was clearly about the princess…
“Diana, Can’t you see you drive me wild…”
He might be one of Canada’s most celebrated musicians but for a long time, he was also the subject of romance rumours with the late Princess Diana.
Cue Bryan Adams…
The pair met for the first time in the 80s…
The “Summer of 69” singer was pictured chatting to the Princess in Vancouver at a gala event in 1986, just a year after he had released “Diana” causing people to speculate about whether Adams was just another notch on Diana’s belt…
Although both Diana and Bryan strongly denied any claims, Adam’s ex-girlfriend of 12 years – Cecilie Thomsen – spoke openly about the affair saying she knew all about it but just turned a blind eye.
His hit single had already been released a year before they met though…
The 43-year-old Danish model explained:
“Bryan knew Paul Burrell very well and Paul was part of the inner circle around Bryan, and he also introduced him to Diana.”
“The first time Bryan met Diana, I wasn’t invited. Ours was a stormy relationship and Bryan’s affair with Diana didn’t make it easier.”
Diana was never short of male admirers…
Even 21 years after Diana’s death, she’s still widely talked about and stories about her conquests are still making the tabloid news.
Enter TV host Andy Cohen, who interviewed Adams earlier this year…
“There are many rumours that you and Princess Diana were once romantically involved,” the host asked.
Bryan’s ex-wife blames Diana for their marriage breakdown…
“Her butler said that he used to sneak you into Kensington Palace. How would you characterize your relationship with Princess Diana?”
“First of all, she didn’t sneak me in, I would just roll up.”
When Andy pushed further with the prospect of them being “friends with benefits”, Bryan said: “She was just… we were good friends.”
He’s always maintained that the pair were nothing but friends…
Again, we will never actually know what happened behind the closed doors of Diana ’s Kensington Palace apartment…
10. Hasnat Khan.
Although it had been 4 years since Diana and Charles had officially separated, Princess Diana couldn’t seem to heal her broken heart.
Diana met Hasnat at an event…
She still longed to find that special ‘someone’ who she could share her life with. Someone she could continue her legacy with…
Cue Hasnat Khan…
Fittingly, Pakistani heart surgeon, Hasnat (also known as “Mr Wonderful” to Diana) swept her off her feet shortly after the Carling scandal.
Hasnat lived a normal life away from prying eyes and paparazzi…
Things seemed to go well for the Princess this time around. For one, “Mr Wonderful” wasn’t married, he wasn’t a celebrity and the pair of them managed to keep their two-year relationship quite secret.
Their relationship allowed Diana to experience some normality in her life and their affair was kept under wraps as much as possible.
Diana wanted to live a ‘normal’ life with him…
Spending much of their time at Kensington Palace where they could avoid the paparazzi and cameras.
Venturing out anywhere for the Princess meant being hounded by hundreds of leach-like paparazzi.
She often disguised herself to go out in public to see him…
But when Diana went out with Hasnat, it was usually around Hasnat’s Chelsea neighbourhood with Diana wearing a dark wig and sunglasses.
The modestly paid NHS heart surgeon worked a 90-hour week and, like most surgeons, all he wanted to do in his spare time was sleep.
The pair often went to the pub together…
Diana threw herself into the ‘normality’ of his existence. Almost desperate to live the ‘standard’ life most of us would love not to have to lead.
Her friends told stories of how she would stay at his one-bedroom apartment to tidy up whilst he was at work.
Jemima Khan said Diana was deeply in love with Hasnat…
As Princess Di began to distance herself from the Royal family, she began to socialise with different types of people.
She changed her phone number every 6 months to avoid having any of her phone calls being listened in on.
He’s said to have never fully got over the loss of Diana…
In effect, dumping anyone and everyone she did not want around her anymore. Brutal? We think so…
But the manner in which Diana went about it, the number of friends she had, you could only count on one hand.
Diana wanted to run away with him and get married…
One friend of Diana’s explained:
“When you think of the kind of men Diana must have met or been with or seen—here is a man who is completely and totally selfless. She said she’d never met anybody like him.”
Diana added that Hasnat had “dark-brown velvet eyes that you could just sink into.”
He took her to meet his parents in Pakistan…
The Princess met Hasnat’s family in Lahore and even entertained them for tea at Kensington Palace during their two-year relationship.
“I found Diana very down to earth, and she made everyone feel at ease,” Hasnat told police in his official interview in 2004, speaking of her manner.
“I did notice that she was also very flirtatious with everyone.”
Naomi Watts in ‘Diana’…
Although the pair seemed to love each other dearly, Diana longed to re-marry; something Hasnat was unwilling to commit to.
He later explained: “I knew I would not be able to live a normal life and if we ever had children together, I would not be able to take them anywhere or do normal things.”
Diana was believed to have been making Hasnat jealous by dating Dodi Fayed, who was killed alongside her in the Paris crash.
They dated up until just a few months before she died…
Speaking about Diana’s death, Hasnat said:
“It’s been difficult for me to get my head around Diana’s death.
“After she died, things were difficult, very difficult.
“We all have our own traumas and get on with it. But when it’s there in your face year in, year out, it’s hard.”
11. Dodi Fayed.
Princess Diana had endured quite a turbulent personal life, which saw her clash with the British Royal family and suffer from mental illnesses.
Diana did a lot of charity work throughout her life…
The years leading up with Diana’s tragic death, however, were probably some of the happier times in her life. She had finally escaped ‘the firm’ in which she was desperate to sever ties from and was beginning to have a little more luck when it came to her love life.
Cue Dodi Fayed…
The eldest son of former Harrod’s owner and billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed was linked to a string of women including: Winona Ryder, Brook Shields and Nancy Sinatra, before getting engaged to American model Kelly Fisher in 1997.
Dodi was a well known playboy…
Now it doesn’t seem to come as much of a shock to hear that Fayed apparently dumped Fisher for Princess Diana.
One thing that was for sure…Diana never seemed to have trouble finding herself a man: no matter if they were single or not.
The pair enjoyed a romantic summer together…
Princess Diana was no stranger to a polo match, she spent a lot of her married years going from polo match to polo match meeting all sorts of ‘important people’ – they were a great place for her to socialise…and often meet new admirers.
Dodi and Diana already knew each other before their ‘summer of love’ – they had met in 1986 at a polo match but nothing came about.
They were spotted together a lot the months running up to their deaths…
Fast forward 11 years, Diana was single and definitely ready to mingle after her split with heart surgeon Hasnat; she jumped at the chance to visit Dodi on his yacht in the South of France.
Along with Dodi, she spent a few weeks there with her sons before returning in the August without the two Princes.
The famous yacht photo…
Throughout her care-free summer, Diana was pictured a number of times with Harrods heir Dodi Fayed – one of the more famous snaps was of them both kissing on the top of his yacht.
Neither of them knowing what was about to tragically happen just a few days later…
RIP ❤
Word on the street was that Dodi and Diana were deeply in love, but people close to Diana dismissed claims as nothing but rubbish. They were simply just enjoying the time with each other as they embarked on their whirlwind romance.
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Posted Aug 26, 2024
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20+ Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Princess Diana