Paris magazine runs mystery Diana interview

Diana, Princess of Wales, reportedly told a French magazine shortly before she died that her feelings for Dodi Fayed were profound. In the interview, published in Paris-Match, which carries pictures of the Princess taken the day before her death in a Paris underpass, she and Mr Fayed were asked about their plans for the future. Mr Fayed said: "I've never enjoyed such harmony. My dream ... why not make a love marriage out of this?" Diana was more circumspect, replying: "My feelings for Dodi are profound and I believe his are sincere."

The magazine said this was Diana's last interview before her death on 31 August but did not explain why it had waited four months to publish. Nor did it name the interviewer or the time and place of the interview. A spokesman insisted it was genuine but there remain doubts about its authenticity.

The Princess is also quoted as saying her only moments of real happiness were the births of her sons William and Harry. But despite her joy at being a mother she hinted at the difficulties she faced in the royal household. "Being a mother in a warm and generous atmosphere is something I did not experience," she said. But when asked if her sons could expect a brother or sister one day, she replied: "Don't you think I'm too old?"

She said she learnt a lot about herself from her humanitarian work, and was scathing about her ex-husband's passion for polo. "One learns a lot about oneself and about life by visiting a slum and by feeling useless in an icy palace. Must one really ask why someone prefers to dedicate her time to humanitarian causes than wasting it on the sidelines of a polo field?"

The Princess often visited America and there were rumours that she wanted to live there. But the interview suggested otherwise. "William and Harry are in school in England and they need me as much as I need them, so I won't move abroad," she said.

1 Trevor Rees-Jones, Mr Fayed's bodyguard and sole survivor of the crash under the Pont L'Alma, will be questioned by a French magistratetoday.