Diana's nine secret suitors

Princess Diana had a string of nine secret suitors she rated according to a "trap" system, but loved only one of them, her former butler claimed today.

Paul Burrell revealed that Diana's secret boyfriends included an
Oscar-winning Hollywood actor, a famous politician, a lawyer, a top musician, a sportsman and a novelist.

But he confirms that "the favourite" remained Pakistaniborn heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who he claims she "desperately" wanted to marry.

Mr Burrell refuses to identify the other eight, telling Barbara Walters in an interview to be broadcast tonight on US television: "She was a busy lady; all these different men interested her. I'm not saying she had affairs with these men. They were suitors."

In the latest extracts from his book A Royal Duty in today's Daily Mirror, Mr Burrell says the Princess was never in love with Dodi Fayed, with whom she died in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

On ABC's 20-20 programme tonight Mr Burrell defends his decision to write about Diana's personal affairs, hopes and fears, including the letter in which she predicted her death in a car "accident".

He said: "I struggled so long and so hard with this, wondering what to do with it. If I gave it to the wrong person it could be shredded, it could be erased, it could disappear.

"I think it's an important letter. It's there in the public domain and now we will have a proper investigation."