Princess Diana Once Consulted Photographer Anwar Hussein About Interfaith Marriage

She was dating Dr. Hasnat Khan at the time.

New exhibit features Iconic Princess Diana photos by Anwar Hussein
(Image credit: Getty/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News)

Princess Diana's marriage to Prince Charles was far from the fairytale romance she and the public had hoped for, but when the royal couple separated, she finally got her chance at love.

Her relationship with Dr. Hasnat Khan, a heart surgeon, is thought to have been the princess' greatest love story, even though it wasn't a well-documented one (per Vanity Fair).

It was such a great love story, in fact, that it sounds like the princess was seriously considering marrying Khan.

Anwar Hussein, a photographer who documented Princess Diana's life for her last 17 years, was on a flight with the princess in the mid-'90s when the royal approached him with some questions.

"All the lights were dimmed on the flight, and she came and whispered, 'Can I have a chat?'" Hussein tells People. "She knew that I was married to an English girl, Caroline. She wanted to know about Islam. She was asking about being married when one person is Muslim and another is Protestant.

"She was interested because of what she was going through with Dr. Hasnat Khan. She didn't mention him, but she assumed I knew it. I think she was wondering how the family would react to him and things like that."

Unfortunately, the romance ended not long before Princess Diana's untimely death. Her next boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, was in the car with her and also tragically passed away.

Hussein spoke to People to promote his current exhibition Princess Diana Exhibition: Accredited Access, open in Los Angeles and Chicago and coming soon to New York City.

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Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.