Nigel Havers will reveal his close relationship with the late Princess of Wales on Piers Morgan's Life Stories and explain that while they were close, they never crossed the line
Actor Nigel Havers said he forged a 'great' yet 'random' friendship with the Princess of Wales after giving her a watch at a party, and that he adored her.
But the 65-year-old TV star said he 'wasn’t in love' with Diana and that they would meet to drink tea and enjoy conversation together.
During an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, Nigel said: “I was great friends with her. I went to one of those dos that you go to.
“I was an ambassador for Dunhill Watches in those days. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to give her a watch so I said to them, ‘Give us a watch and I’ll give it to Princess Di’ and I gave it to her and she was absolutely bowled over by it. She thought I had given it to her actually.”
He said: “She wrote me a lovely thank you letter, which I’ve got. She did come and have tea a couple of times… it was very much just tea.”
Chariots Of Fire and Downton Abbey star Nigel said he was 'very, very good' when asked if he had ever crossed a line romantically with Diana.
He said: “No, I wasn’t in love with her but I did adore her. Adored is different to in love. And also she was married to Prince Charles!”
Of their friendship, he said: “It was random, but it was rather charming. I made a very good cup of tea. She’d say that life was difficult.
“She was keen to have a conversation with me, just saying 'Hi', 'What was I up to' and stuff like that.”
Nigel revealed the last time he spoke to Diana before her death in August 1997 was a month earlier, and that he had learned of it after arriving in America for work.
He said: “I was on an aeroplane to Los Angeles where I was working and I got a taxi at LAX airport and the driver said to me, ‘She didn’t make it’ and I didn’t know what he was talking about.
“It wasn’t until I got to the hotel [I saw] the commotion and I was just utterly shocked, like everybody.”
Piers Morgan’s Life Stories: Nigel Havers screens on February 10 at 9pm on ITV.
