Hasnat Khan

Hasnat Ahmad Khan, PHD, FRCS, (b. 1960 in Jhelum, Pakistan)[1] has been a heart and lung surgeon at Harefield Hospital in London. He is reported to be planning to return to Pakistan to accept a post at a hospital in Lahore.[2][3] Khan is known to do a lot of charity work in Africa and Asia, and it is reported that all of his recent surgeries have been for charity.

Contents

Relationship with Princess of Wales

Khan has been widely identified as an "ex-lover"[4] and "boyfriend" of Diana, Princess of Wales. The relationship ended in July 1997, according to Paul Burrell, Diana's butler.[5]

In March 2008, Khan said in a written statement to Lord Justice Scott Baker's inquest into Diana's death that their relationship had begun in the late summer of 1995, and that although they had talked about getting married, he believed that he would find the inevitable media attention "hell". He also said that he believed that the accident which caused Diana's death was a "tragic accident".[6] The heart surgeon told the court on 3 March 2008 that he doubted she had been pregnant when she died because she always took her contraceptive pills.

Khan had met Diana at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where she was visiting a friend recovering from heart surgery. They pursued a discreet two-year affair that finished a few months before her death in a car crash in 1997. Diana's friends are reported to have described Khan as the 'love of her life' and to have spoken of her distress when he ended their relationship.[7] He, however, is said to be reticent about speaking of how much he may have meant to her or even how much she meant to him. Many of Diana's friends believe she was using Dodi Fayed in order to make Hasnat jealous and win him back.[8]

Marriages

Khan, whom Diana had famously described as "Mr Wonderful",[9] had married 28-year-old Hadia Sher Ali,[10] a Pakistani descendant from former Afghan royalty,[8] in a lavish ceremony in Pakistan in May 2006.

Khan and Ali had filed an application for divorce in the local arbitration council of Islamabad.[8] Kamran Cheema, the chairman of the council, heard their case and decided to issue the divorce certificate. Sources say there were 'multiple reasons' for his separation.

He is now married to a Greek Doctor.

Notes

  1. ^ Timur Moon, "Di’s doctor finds a doctor in Lahore", The Telegraph, Calcutta, 19 May 2003, accessed 2008-08-25.
  2. ^ "Princess Diana's heart surgeon lover quits Britain", London Daily Mail, 12 Oct. 2007, accessed 2008-08-25.
  3. ^ "Diana's Surgeon Lover: 'I’ve been Snubbed by the Inquest'", London Daily Express, 25 Aug. 2008, accessed 2008-08-25.
  4. ^ "Princess Diana's ex-lover Hasnat Khan to give evidence", Victoria, Australia Herald Sun, 9 Jan. 2008, accessed 2008-08-24.
  5. ^ Gordon Rayner, "Diana 'planned secret wedding to Hasnat Khan'", London Telegraph, 16 Jan. 2008, accessed 2008-08-24.
  6. ^ "Diana jury told of surgeon affair", BBC News, 3 March 2008, accessed 2008-08-24.
  7. ^ Massoud Ansari and Andrew Alderson, "Dr Hasnat Khan: Princess Diana and me", London Sunday Telegraph, 16 Jan. 2008, accessed 2008-08-25.
  8. ^ a b c "Diana's lover divorces wife", Times of India, 20 July 2008, accessed 2008-08-25.
  9. ^ "Princess Diana's 'Mr Wonderful' Hasnat Khan Still Haunted by her Death", Sky News, Jan. 13, 2008, accessed 2008-08-25.
  10. ^ Dean Rousewell, "Diana Doc Weds his New Love" The People, London, 14 May 2006, accessed 2008-08-25.

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