All the men Princess Diana was ever romantically linked to

On 31 August, the world marked 26 years since the death of Princess Diana. The former wife of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, Diana remains a much-missed family member and a symbol of kindness and compassion to millions of well-wishers around the world.

Vivacious, intelligent and exceedingly beautiful, Princess Diana was never short of admirers. She was iridescent – always fabulously turned out and with a sparkling sense of humour to accompany. As depicted in The Crown, so much of Diana’s youthful appeal and suitability for her role as Princess of Wales (and entry into the Royal Family) was the absence of scandal and rubbished relationships in her wake. It’s widely thought that the then Prince of Wales was her first official boyfriend – and it’s not hugely surprising given Diana was 19 at the time that their engagement was announced.

The then Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencerin spectacular fashion in 1981 – their royal wedding was watched around the world. The couple welcomed their two sons soon after but later separated. It wasn’t long into their relationship that Charles resumed his romance with Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Camilla), giving Diana license to have her own rumoured relationships. Ultimately the marriage wasn’t to last: following a period of separation, Diana and Charles officially divorced in 1996.Diana (known as Diana, Princess of Wales, following her divorce) only married once but there was a continual ‘hum’ of speculation as to who she might be ‘seeing’ at any one time. Here are those men – some confirmed as a flame, others as a boyfriend and some may well have never happened at all…

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  Barry Albert Mannakee – 1985
  Mannakee worked as a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad before being assigned to Princess Diana as a bodyguard in 1985. Palace rumours circulated of an affair between the two of them that ultimately led to his dismissal from the role a year later. In 1987 he was killed in a motorcycle accident that led to conspiracy theories that his death had been planned. These were fuelled by Diana in a video later obtained by NBC, where she confessed, ‘I was only happy when he was around,’ and she described his death as, ‘the biggest blow of my life’. She also said: ‘I think he was bumped off, but there we are.’ He was never mentioned by name in the secret tapes – when she spoke of a man she was in love with – but it was assumed she was referring to him. In the tapes she said she was ‘deeply in love’ with the unidentified security guard and was ‘quite happy to give all this up and to just go off and live with him’. The death of Mannakee was reinvestigated during the inquiry into the death of Diana, as part of Operation Paget, overseen by Sir John Stevens.

  

  Ron Dadswell / Shutterstock

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  James Hewitt – 1986-1992
  The dashing former Household Cavalry officer and tank commander began his five-year affair with Diana in 1986 after they met at a cocktail party, with Diana later confessing to the romance in the 1995 BBC Panorama interview – much contested this past year, 25 years on. The affair happened at the same time that Prince Charles was widely reported to have been seeing his former girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles. The metaphorical rug was pulled from under the relationship when Hewitt was deployed to serve in the Gulf War, before splitting permanently, when their affair was exposed. Diana’s former protection officer and confidant, Ken Wharfe, wrote about the affair in his book Diana: Closely Guarded Secret with the cooperation of Hewitt – which was said to leave the Princess heartbroken. The princess later revealed: ‘I was in love with him. But I was very let down’

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