Diana, the biopic based on Kate Snell‘s book about the Princess of Wales and her lover, Dr. Hasnat Khan, is due to open internationally on September 5th. The US release date for the film, starring Naomi Watts and Naveen Andrews, is currently slated for November 1st.
The world premiere will take place in London’s Leicester Square.
Dr. Khan, a heart surgeon, met the Princess at the Royal Brompton Hospital while treating her friend’s husband. The couple secretly dated for two years, and broke up shortly before Diana’s death in August 1997. Dr. Khan spoke to the Mail on Sunday this weekend about his disapproval of the film, despite producers claiming they had his “tacit acceptance.”
“It is a complete lie,” Dr. Khan said of producer Robert Berstein‘s claims that he met Snell outside of a brief encounter in the late 90s The author came to the hospital, where she and Dr. Khan had a cup of coffee.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone involved in that movie. I have never given any approval for it,” he said. “I have never met or talked or written to Bernstein and I have never given any approval in a direct or indirect manner.”
Khan admitted that his romance with the Princess ran its course a few months before her untimely death in Paris. During their courtship, the couple would sometimes communicate via Diana’s butler, Paul Burrell. There was at least one instance where Burrell hid the doctor under a sheet while driving him to Kensington Palace.
“Even after two years, the relationship wasn’t leading to a meaningful progression or conclusion and that was the main stress on both of us,” he said.
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