Hasnat Ahmed Khan (; born 1 April 1958) is a British-Pakistani heart and lung surgeon. He is widely known for his romantic relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, from 1995 to 1997.
Early life and education
Khan was born on 1 April 1958 in
Jhelum, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan to a
Pashtun family.
[Timur Moon, "Di’s doctor finds a doctor in Lahore" , The Telegraph, Calcutta, 19 May 2003, Retrieved 25 August 2008.] He is the eldest of four children.
His father, Rashid Khan, a graduate of the London School of Economics, ran a glass factory.
Hasnat Khan is a distant cousin of
Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan.
Career
Until 1991 he worked in
Sydney, Australia and then began to work in
London.
He served at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London from 1995 to 1996, then he began to work at the London Chest Hospital. In 2000, he worked at St Bartholomew's Hospital, after which he served at Harefield Hospital. In November 2007, he resigned from the post and began to head a cardiac hospital in
Malaysia.
As of August 2013, Khan is working as a consultant
cardiothoracic surgeon at Basildon University Hospital.
Personal life
Relationship with the Princess of Wales
Khan had a two-year relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, who is said to have described him as "Mr Wonderful."
[Multiple sources:
] In May 1996, Diana visited the Khan family in Lahore.
Diana's butler
Paul Burrell said in testimony at her 2008 inquest that Diana described Khan as her soulmate. Diana ended the relationship in July 1997.
Diana's friends are reported to have described Hasnat as the "love of her life" and to have spoken of her distress when she ended their relationship.[ "Diana's lover divorces wife" , Times of India, 20 July 2008, Retrieved 25 August 2008.] Khan attended Diana's funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey in September 1997.
Khan told the police in 2004 that he doubted she had been pregnant when she died because she always took her contraception.[ "Diana jury told of surgeon affair", BBC News, 3 March 2008, Retrieved 25 August 2008.]
Marriage
Khan married 28-year-old Hadia Sher Ali in Pakistan, descended from
Barakzai dynasty, in May 2006.
[Dean Rousewell, "Diana Doc Weds his New Love" The People, London, 14 May 2006, Retrieved 25 August 2008.] In July 2008, Khan and Ali filed an application for divorce in the local arbitration council of
Islamabad.
He was later linked to Dr Alexandra Panagoulas, a fellow heart surgeon,
then married Somi Sohail,
referred to as "Somi Khan".
In the media
The relationship between Khan and Diana, Princess of Wales is portrayed in the film
Diana (2013), directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and based on
Kate Snell's book
Diana: Her Last Love (2001).
Khan is played by
Naveen Andrews, while Diana is played by
Naomi Watts.
Khan was portrayed by Pakistani actor Humayun Saeed in the fifth season of The Crown.
