PTI
 
London, Dec 17: Just months before Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash ten years back, a Muslim heart surgeon of Pakistani origin ended his two-year relationship with the Princess of Wales fearing that a marriage between them would be doomed to failure.

"If I married her, our marriage wouldn't last for more than a year. We are culturally so different from each other. She is from Venus and I am from Mars. If it ever happened, it would be like a marriage from two different planets," Dr Hasnat Khan told his family.

His comments were disclosed by Abdul Rasheed Khan, his wealthy father, to 'The Sunday Telegraph'.

Khan told the British newspaper that his son had explained to him that Diana was "independent" and "outgoing" but cultural differences would have torn them apart if they had opted for marriage.

Last week, one of Diana's closest friends told the inquest into the death of the Princess of Wales that she had no plans to get married to Dodi Al-Fayed, who also got killed in the crash in the Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997, as she was still in love with Dr Khan.

"The Princess had been deeply upset and hurt when Dr Khan broke off their relationship in the summer of 1997. She was very much in love with him. She hoped that they would be able to have a future together. She wanted to marry him," Rosa Monckton had told the inquest jury.

Dr Khan, 48, who until last month worked in Britain, had a two-year relationship with Diana from 1995. She stayed at his Chelsea flat in London and he stayed at her home in Kensington Palace.

However, they always tried to keep the affair discreet and he has never talked publicly about his feelings for her.