Did Princess Diana Love The Men She Dated After Prince Charles?

Her marriage to the Prince of Wales may have been a tumultuous and miserable one, but the late Princess Diana did manage to find some semblance of happiness with the other men in her life. Diana had relationships with James Hewitt, Oliver Hoare, Hasnat Khan and Dodi Fayed in the years between her wedding to Prince Charles and her death in 1997.

Did the late princess love any of these men? Did any of them love her? Below, her closest friends and confidantes recall her love affairs.

James Hewitt

Diana famously had a five-year affair with former British Army cavalry officer James Hewitt, who was her riding instructor. Debbie Frank, Diana’s astrologer, said that the late princess had “adored” Hewitt but later “felt betrayed” by him.

She also said that Diana was with Hewitt when she met her in 1989. At that time, Prince Charles had resumed his affair with Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall, and because of that she felt that Hewitt was “quite good” for Diana. “He gave her some love which she desperately needed,” Frank said.

Oliver Hoare

Oliver Hoare was an art dealer and close friend of Charles’, with whom Diana was “obsessed” in the early nineties. Simone Simmons, Diana’s healer, said that she had warned the late royal about Hoare. She told Diana that Hoare was not good for her and that he treated her “like another notch on his bedpost.”

Hasnat Khan

Simmons recalled that Diana was “very much in love” with Hasnat Khan, a heart surgeon she dated from 1995 to 1997. “[She] desperately wanted to marry him and have a daughter,” she said.

But Dr. James Colthurst, another confidant, claimed that Diana “liked” Khan but didn’t love him. He said that Diana was merely fascinated by Khan’s profession, the reason she used to turn up in his operating theaters. “He was a caring guy but it was his profession that was more interesting than anything else,” he said.

Dodi Fayed

Fayed, a movie producer, was the last man who Diana dated. What drew Diana to Fayed, according to Frank, was his family set-up, which was the kind she longed for.

Though Diana and Fayed are often referred to as star-crossed lovers, Robert Lacey, Diana’s biographer, said that their relationship was no more than “a summer fling.” He also suggested that Diana would have liked the thought of “sticking it to the royal family” by being with Fayed. “I don’t believe anybody who knows anything about Dodi can believe it would have lasted,” he said.