Princess Diana was not engaged

Sep 4, 2006, 15:00 GMT

The diamond ring worn by Britain's Princess Diana on the day she died was not an engagement ring, her former butler has claimed.

Paul Burrell has revealed the £3,000 Bulgari gold band given to the princess by lover Dodi Fayed - was a "friendship ring" not, as it has previously been suggested, an engagement band.

Burrell, who the princess once described as "her rock", also insisted the couple had no plans to wed, slamming rumours that Diana was killed to stop her from marrying Muslim Dodi.

In his new book, 'The Way We Were', he writes: "Diana made it clear this was not an engagement ring. She giggled with relief that the ring had not been more significant."

Burrell claims he was given the ring by hospital staff after Diana's fatal car crash in 1997.

Burrell has also claimed that Diana's true love was heart surgeon Dr Hasnat Khan, with who she had a secret two-year relationship with, and claims Diana only holidayed with Dodi to make Hasnat jealous.

He writes: "With Hasnat she was the happiest I had ever seen her, she called him 'The One'. She would say, 'This is the man I want to marry. Can you imagine what beautiful children we could make?'

"What she experienced with Dodi was not love, nor was it serious. The photos of them on holiday were signals sent out to grab the attention of the man she really loved."

Burrell alleges the relationship ended when Hasnat said he wasn't ready for their romance to be made public. Days later Diana was pictured with the Fayed family.

The butler also claims that after Diana's death, he received a call from a distraught Hasnat.

He said: "Hasnat said over and over again 'I could have saved her'.

'Why did she have to be so far away?'"

Princes William and Harry are said to be "devastated" by this latest "betrayal" of their mother.

(C) BANG Media International