( dpa )- A Pakistani heart surgeon who had a two-year affair with the late Princess Diana told the inquest into her death Monday that they had discussed - but dismissed - the idea of marriage after they met at a London clinic in 1995.
Hasnat Khan, who refused to give direct evidence via video-link, said in a written statement to the inquest that the couple believed getting married would "make his life hell."
Diana's divorce from Prince Charles, heir to the throne, was finalized in 1996.
Khan, who returned to Pakistan last year, also said that, contrary to media reports, it was Diana - and not he - who ended the relationship a few weeks before Diana's death in August, 1997.
Because of his relationship with Diana, he had received anonymous threatening letters containing cut-out pictures of him with a noose around his neck, reported Khan.
He described his relationship with the princess as a "normal one." They had visited pubs and night-clubs together, with Diana once donning a black wig to conceal her identity.
During a visit to a pub, Diana had once insisted that she should order the drinks at the bar "because it was something she had never done."
He had visited Diana often at Kensington Palace, her London residence, and frequently met her two sons, the princes William and Harry, whom she wanted to "know what was going on in her life."
The couple broke up in 1997, shortly before Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris with her lover, Dodi al Fayed.
Khan said he believed the crash was a "tragic accident," although he was "surprised" that Diana did not wear a seat belt on the night of her death.
Dodi's father, Mohammed al Fayed, maintains that Diana and his son were murdered in a secret service plot backed by senior royals because the princess was pregnant with Dodi's child.
The surgeon said he thought it "unlikely" that Diana would have married Dodi al Fayed after knowing him for only a few weeks.
She would have taken time to think things through very carefully, he said.
Khan said he would be "very surprised" if Diana was pregnant by Dodi - as suggested by his father - because she had always been very particular about taking contraceptive pills.
"Had she been pregnant, she would definitely have told somebody," said Khan.
"I think she would have kept the baby, had that been the case," added Khan.
On the question of marriage, Khan said the couple agreed that he would not be able to lead a normal life and, if they had children, he would not be able to take them anywhere.
His main concern was that "my life would become hell because of who she was," said Khan in his statement.