Hasnat Khan: who is surgeon who had a relationship with Diana, how long did they date, did he attend funeral?

Hasnat Khan was romantically involved with Princess Diana during the time that she was separated from her husband Prince Charles. The breakdown of Charles and Diana’s relationship and the constitutional crisis that arose from it is covered in season five of The Crown, which is streaming on Netflix now.

Khan is also a focus of the series, which will explore the time that he was involved with Diana. But the real-life Khan is media shy and has remained out of the public eye for the most part since Diana’s death in 1997. This is everything we know about Hasnat Khan, his relationship with Princess Diana, and who will play him in The Crown:

Who is Hasnat Khan?

Khan is a 64-year-old British-Pakistani heart and lung surgeon, born in the Punjab region - he is the distant cousin of former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. Hasnat worked in Australia before moving to London in the early 1990s. He continued to work at different London hospitals until 2007, when he became the head of a cardiac hospital in Malaysia.

Khan was in the public spotlight during his romantic relationship with Princess Diana from 1995 until around July 1997, shortly before her death. Diana visited the Khan family in Lahore during their relationship and reportedly smuggled Khan into her Kensington Palace residence in the boot of her car. Those close to her believe that the pair were deeply in love. Diana’s butler Paul Burrell stated that she had described Khan as her soulmate, and her friends called him the love of her life.

The couple are believed to have split up because Khan did not believe that they could make a marriage work, and that they were very different people. Khan provided a written statement to an inquest into Diana’s death in which he said that they had spoken about getting married but that he would find the media attention that would result from it to be hell.

Did Hasnat Khan attend Princess Diana’s funeral?

Yes, Khan attended Princess Diana’s funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey, in September 1997. Two thousand people attended the ceremony in person including the royal family, Prime Minister John Major and his predecessor Margaret Thatcher, as well as international world leaders and celebrities.

What is Hasnat Khan doing now?

Khan continued to work in London following Diana’s death and moved to Malaysia around 2007. He is believed to have returned to the UK in 2013 and works as a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Basildon University Hospital in Essex. He also undertakes humanitarian work in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Pakistan.

Khan married  Hadia Sher Ali, a Pakistani woman and the descendant of the Afghanistan royal family in 2006 but they divorced two years later. He married Somi Sohail in 2017 and the couple are still together.

Who plays Hasnat Khan in The Crown?

Humayun Saeed plays Hansat Khan in every episode of season five of The Crown. Humayun is a Pakistani actor and this is his first English screen role. He has previously starred in Pakistani features including Punjab Nahi Jaungi, and I Am Shahid Afridi. He has also worked as a producer including on the Pakistani romantic drama series Habs, and Gul-e-Rana.