Diana 'had considered marrying heart doctor'

DIANA, Princess of Wales, considered marrying heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, whom she loved more than any other man, her former butler said yesterday.

Paul Burrell also told the inquest into her death it was "impossible" she had been murdered on the orders of the Royal Family.

Asked if the Prince of Wales could have planned her death, he said: "I could not possibly see the father of her children murdering her."

And he revealed the princess's relationships sparked a rift with her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, who branded her "a whore" for dating Muslim men.

Mr Burrell, who was in Diana's employ for more than ten years, said the "extremely serious relationship" with Mr Khan had lasted for two years until July 1997 and that the surgeon had been a regular visitor to Kensington Palace.

Asked by Ian Burnett, QC, representing the inquest, if the princess had considered marrying Mr Khan, Mr Burrell replied: "Yes, she did. She asked me if it was possible to arrange a private marriage between her and Hasnat Khan."

He recounted how he had approached his local Carmelite priest Father Anthony Parsons in Kensington to ask about arranging a "private" wedding between a Christian and a Muslim.

It is unclear whether Mr Khan was aware of these discussions.

Mr Burrell added: "The princess said that this was her soulmate, this was the man she loved more than any other and it was a very deep, spiritual relationship. I witnessed it at first hand and they were very much in love."

Diana and Mr Khan broke up in 1997 shortly after Diana's birthday, following a late-night meeting in Battersea Park, he said.

Mr Burrell also told the inquest he was not under the impression that Dodi Fayed, had been "the one", describing the pair's relationship as "a very new friendship which developed into something more".

Mr Burrell said the princess had told him: "I need marriage like a rash." Insisting the couple were not engaged, he said Diana was "on the rebound" from her relationship with Mr Khan.

Mr Burrell suggested she was making Mr Khan jealous with her new relationship with Dodi, which developed in the last month of her life.

He insisted that a ring bought by Dodi for the princess was "not an engagement ring – it was a friendship band" – and said she wore it on the fourth finger of her right hand so no-one would be misled into thinking they were to marry.

Diana, Dodi and their driver, Henri Paul, died in Paris in a car crash in August 1997.

Mr Burrell was asked about a note the princess had written to him in which she said Prince Charles was "planning an accident in my car".

Dismissing the suggestion the Prince of Wales could have been involved in a murder plot, Mr Burrell said: "The princess always had a great fondness for Prince Charles, even after her divorce."

Asked by Mr Burnett if he knew of anything to support the idea that Diana and Dodi were murdered, he replied: "No, I can't begin to believe that. Knowing the members of the Royal Family as I do, and knowing them so well, I think that's impossible.

"Prince Charles was not capable of murdering the princess – they were cordial towards the end of her life."

He also rejected Mohamed al-Fayed's claims that the crash was staged by MI6 on the orders of the Duke of Edinburgh.

He said: "The princess was mother of his grandchildren; why would he want to harm her? It's not possible."

Mr Burrell went on to describe a 90-minute meeting with the Queen after Diana's death, during which she told him to "be careful" as there were "powers at work in this country".

He suggested she could have been referring to three possibilities – media bosses, the establishment and the security services.

He also claimed a mystery royal had warned Diana her intimate conversations might be being bugged. During an extraordinary exchange, he insisted on writing the name on a piece of paper and passing it to the coroner.

A mini guessing game then followed as the coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, revealed that the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of York were not named on the piece of paper.

The inquest jury was told later that Diana broke off her relationship with Mrs Shand Kydd, who died in 2004, after two acrimonious telephone calls. Diana had asked Mr Burrell to listen to the calls in which her mother said "she was messing around with 'effing Muslim men'" and said "some very nasty things".

The extent to which Mr Burrell has profited from his links to Diana were also revealed at the hearing.

He confirmed to the inquest that he had written two books containing a detailed account of his dealings with the princess as her butler.

Mr Burrell was also asked to produce various letters, documents and journals. Amid confusion over the whereabouts and even existence of his diary and other documents, he has been called back to give evidence today.

He was told by the coroner to "hot-foot" it overnight from London to his home in Cheshire to retrieve the material which he was openly reluctant to produce.

'SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM'

HASNAT Khan, Diana's former lover, yesterday said he hopes the inquest into her death answers "all the questions that have been asked".

The 48-year-old heart specialist, who broke his decade-long silence at the weekend over his relationship with the woman who called him "Mr Wonderful", said he hopes the hearing ends speculation surrounding the car accident in Paris.

He said: "I hope it answers all the questions which have been asked. For me, I think it's important that this is the end of it, and that people can move on.

"What I would like to see is the inquest establish an end to it."

In newspaper interviews published on Sunday, Mr Khan revealed that Diana's death continued to haunt him, at times making him want to scream.

He admitted: "Sometimes I feel like screaming. There have been very bad times. I have moved on, but it keeps coming back."

Mr Khan also said he had received a letter suggesting that the coroner may want him to appear at the inquest, but said it is unlikely that he will attend.

He said: "They say they would prefer it if I testified to the jurors. My lawyers advised me I do not have to attend. If that's their advice, I won't go. But if I find I have to go according to the law, I will go."

He refused to talk about the circumstances surrounding his break-up with the princess, but talked of the esteem in which he holds her.