Mary-Kate Olsen couldn’t bear to see her late friend and rumoured lover Heath Ledger at a screening of his final completed movie The Dark Knight, and ended up leaving just 20 minutes into the performance.

The 22-year old, who was romantically linked to the tragic actor at the time of his death in January, felt sure she'd be OK during the film, but scenes of the brilliant Ledger as the Joker in the new Batman film upset her too much.

She attended a screening in Century City, California with friends six months to the day of Ledger's death, but left soon after the film began.

A pal tells Life & Style magazine: "It got to be too much for her. She wanted to go unnoticed, but people recognised her and started whispering. She felt really weird.

"Between dealing with Heath onscreen and with everyone around her, she couldn't take it. So she left."

Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose and Olsen was dragged into the riddle surrounding his death when it emerged she was telephoned from the scene of the tragedy before emergency services.