Donald Trump 'Aggressively Pursued' Princess Diana After Her Divorce—Book

Donald Trump "aggressively pursued" Princess Diana following her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996 and claimed, after her death, he could have "nailed her if I wanted to," according to a new biography.

In an advance copy of The King: The Life of Charles III by Christopher Andersen seen by Newsweek, the author recounts that during the 1990s Diana "rebuffed" romantic advances that Trump made after the breakdown of her marriage to Charles.

"It didn't help that Trump...had aggressively pursued Princess Diana after her divorce—overtures that were rebuffed—and claimed later on a radio program that he could have 'nailed her if I wanted to,' but only if she passed an HIV test," Andersen wrote of Trump's relationship with Charles.

The later comments by Trump were made during interviews in 1997 and 2000 with radio show host Howard Stern.

Soon after the princess' death at the age of 36 in a Paris car crash, Stern asked Trump, who had been linked in various ways to both Diana and Charles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, "why do people think it's egotistical of you to say you could've gotten with Lady Di?"

"You could've gotten her, right? You could've nailed her," Stern said, according to The Daily Beast.

"I think I could have," Trump responded.

In a 2000 discussion, Stern raised the subject of Diana again, asking Trump: "Would you have slept with her?"

"Without even hesitation," was the response.

Following the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage, which led to an official separation in 1992, general speculation that Diana was considering a move to the U.S.—in particular to a property in Trump Tower, began to resurface.

Though sources have speculated that the reports were placed to promote Trump's property holdings, in 1994, Buckingham Palace denied that the princess was looking to purchase a stateside apartment following a story run by the New York Post.

"This report is highly speculative rubbish. It is simply not true," a palace spokesman responded, according to The Guardian. "The princess is not set to buy an apartment in the United States or elsewhere and has no plans to live anywhere but in Britain."

Reports that Trump had attempted to win favor with Diana following her divorce stem from an article written by her friend, the broadcaster Selina Scott, who interviewed Trump in 1995.

The business tycoon was not happy with his portrayal in Scott's article and resulted, she has since claimed, in his sending "intimidating" letters addressed to her for a number of years.

In 2015, Scott wrote of a lunch she shared with Diana in which the princess expressed her concern at Trump's advances toward her.

"He bombarded Diana at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets of flowers, each worth hundreds of pounds," Scott wrote, according to The Sunday Times. "Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife."

"As the roses and orchids piled up at her apartment she became increasingly concerned about what she should do," the broadcaster continued. "It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her."

Later, Scott recounted that Diana asked for advice on how to handle the situation.

"'What am I going to do?' she asked. 'He gives me the creeps.'"

"'Just throw them in the bin,' I advised. Diana laughed."

Following the publication of Scott's claims, in the build-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump was asked about his relationship with the princess by Piers Morgan on British TV.

"There was a flurry of stories recently that you had a little frisson for Princess Diana," Morgan said.

"Totally false," Trump responded. "It was so false. I liked her. I met her in New York once standing in line and we were all shaking hands and that was the only time I ever met her. I read that story that I was calling her or something and it was so false."

"I did respect her," he added of the princess, "but no interest from that standpoint. But I did meet her once and I thought she was lovely."

Trump has been highly complimentary towards some members of the British royal family in the years since he became president, writing a lengthy tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September, adding that the new King Charles is a "great and outstanding successor to his cherished mother."

Newsweek has reached out to the office of Donald Trump for comment.

The King: The Life of Charles III by Christopher Andersen, published by Gallery Books of Simon & Schuster, will be released on November 8.

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