Royals
Princess Diana’s Brother Reveals Her Secret Dreams for a New Life in South Africa Before Her Death
Princess Diana was searching for a fresh start away from royal life in the months before her death, according to a revealing new account from her brother, Charles Spencer.
Diana had considered moving to South Africa with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan, according to a Page Six article published on Tuesday, September 22, citing Spencer’s new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. The princess even explored whether Khan could find work at a Cape Town hospital as part of her hopes of building a new life there.
Spencer, 62, is Diana’s younger brother. He wrote that life in England had become “intolerable” for Diana by the time she visited him at his Cape Town home in March 1997, per the report.
“She had come to see for herself if this sublimely beautiful tip of Africa … could provide a haven for her and her heart surgeon lover,” Spencer wrote, the outlet reported. “Might they, she dared hope, move there together, and carve out a life?”
“Diana dreamed that she and her man could live happily — normally — nearby,” Spencer wrote, per Page Six. “The other side of the world seemed to offer the possibility of asylum.”
According to the outlet, Diana and Khan met in 1995 and carried on a private relationship for roughly two years. The romance ended during the summer of 1997, weeks before Diana died at age 36 in Paris. Khan later acknowledged during the 2008 inquest into Diana’s death that the couple had considered moving to Pakistan, though Diana ultimately rejected the idea. He also said he feared he “would not be able to live a normal life” with the princess, per the report.
As National Examiner previously reported, Spencer’s memoir has already created friction with the royal family. And the attention surrounding Spencer’s book has continued to grow, with a source claiming he is “absolutely loving this,” per Rob Shuter‘s Naughty But Nice Substack. Spencer has maintained that money was not his motivation and has presented the memoir as his attempt to tell Diana’s story from his perspective.
