While royal watchers are eagerly anticipating a blockbuster biopic of Princess Diana that purports to tell the true story of her romance with surgeon Hasnat Khan, the doctor has stepped forward with his diagnosis of the film and says the filmmaker have it all wrong.
According to Britain’s Daily Mail, Dr. Hasnat Khan, who will be portrayed by former Lost actor Naveen Andrews, says the film presents a false picture of his affair with the princess.
“It is based on gossip and Diana’s friends talking about a relationship that they didn’t know much about, and some of my relatives who didn’t know much about it either. It is all based on hypotheses and gossip,” Khan told the Daily Mail.
Oscar-nominated Australian actress Naomi Watts plays Diana in the film, which will focus on the princess’s life in the years after her separation and divorce from Prince Charles.
The trailer, which was released earlier this summer, was met with mixed response. Some felt that Watts was perfect for the role, while others said she bears no resemblance to Diana at all.
The movie will be directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, who previously directed the 2004 film Downfall, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Daily Mail reports the film is based on a book, Diana: Her Last Love, in which author Kate Snell chronicled the romance between Diana and the cardiologist.
According to the Mail, Khan broke off the relationship only weeks before Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.