A Guide to Princess Diana's Rumored Boyfriends
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Then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married for more than 15 years, but over the course of their troubled union, both parties were unfaithful. Charles, of course, was having an affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker Bowles, but Diana had relationships, too. And after the royal couple separated, she was publicly linked to a few different men—including her Dodi Al Fayed, who died in the same car crash that killed Diana 26 years ago.
Season five of The Crown dives into the royal family in the 90s, whereas season six just focuses on her relationship with Dodi. Here's a guide to all the men to whom Diana was romantically linked to in the time period—from James Hewitt to Hasnat Khan.
King Charles
Charles and Diana met in 1977, when the then-Prince of Wales was dating her older sister. They started dating in 1980, and reportedly met only 13 times in person before Charles proposed.
Barry Mannakee
Barry Mannakee, a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad, was assigned to Princess Diana's detail. There were rumors of an affair between the two, but in 1987, he was killed in a motorcycle accident.‘
"I was only happy when he was around," Diana said later in a secretly obtained videotape, saying she was "deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment." She never mentioned Barry by name, but described his tragic death as "the biggest blow of my life."
James Hewitt
James Hewitt, a former Household Cavalry officer and tank commander, met Princess Diana at a cocktail party in 1986. They had an affair while Diana was still married to Charles, and it ended when Hewitt left to serve in the Gulf War in 1991. Diana herself confirmed the affair during her 1995 Panorama interview.
James Gilbey
James Gilbey, a childhood friend of Diana, was famously the other person on an illegally recorded phone call of Diana's, where he calls her "Squidge" or "Squidgy" (hence the name of it as the "Squidgygate" tape) and "darling." Gilbey denied they ever had an affair, but based on the phone call, they were definitely close.
Oliver Hoare
Diana was linked to art dealer Oliver Hoare in the early '90s; he was spotted at Kensington Palace on numerous occasions. "She confided to me that he was the first man who had ever aroused her physically. That admission did much to explain the humiliating events that followed," Diana's former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe said, saying she fell "completely in love" with him.
Will Carling
British rugby star Will Carling was rumored to have a tryst with Diana in the mid-90s, though Carling has denied it.
Yet, at the time, his then-wife Julia said of Diana, "This has happened to her before, and you hope she won't do these things again, but she obviously does. She picked the wrong couple to do it with this time, because we can only get stronger from it. I am sad that Will put himself in that position and that the princess did as well."
Last year, he said around the time he met Diana he was "stupidly doing things you shouldn't do."
Hasnat Khan
Hasnat Khan, a Pakistani heart surgeon, and Princess Diana dated for two years, from 1995 to 1997. Diana reportedly described him as the "love of her life" to friends, and introduced him to her sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
"Diana and I had a very good relationship with no personal problems. The only problem we did have was with the media and the only place we could have any real privacy was at Kensington Palace as they could not get to us there," Khan said in 2004 during the inquest into Diana's death. “Diana was very protective towards me and wanted to shield me from the attention."
Of Dodi Al Fayed, he said, "She wanted to be with someone who was happy to be seen with her in public and she could do that with Dodi... I think that Diana finally realised that Al Fayed could give her all the things I could not. He had money and could provide the necessary security for her."
Dodi Al Fayed
Dodi Al Fayed, the son of of billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, was Diana's last boyfriend, and he tragically was killed with her in the car crash in Paris on that fateful night in August 1997.
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