Princess Diana is featured in the fifth season of Netflix’s The Crown discussing her marital problems with then-Prince Charles, leading fans to wonder more than ever about her rumored ex-lover, James Hewitt. This article will let you know more about James Hewitt and his relationship with Princess Diana.
Who is James Hewitt?
Hewitt was born in 1958 to a military family. As a young man, he studied at Millfield School, and his father served as an officer in the British Navy. Then at age 20, he followed in his family’s footsteps of military service by enlisting in the British Army’s Brigade of Guards. While serving in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, he oversaw a platoon of Challenger tanks. In 1986, Hewitt met Princess Diana at a reception hosted by her lady-in-waiting, Hazel West, an encounter that propelled the officer into the public eye.
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How was James Hewitt related to Princess Diana?
According to People, soon after he started working as Diana’s riding instructor, the two started dating and were together for years. It was noted that the Princess’s marriage to Prince Charles was in trouble by the time she met Hewitt. Consequently, Hewitt shot to fame in 1994, shortly after retiring from the military, when he collaborated with novelist Anna Pasternak on the book Princess in Love. This book claims to tell the story of Hewitt and Diana’s extramarital affair, which lasted for five years, from 1986 to 1991. Because of his relationship with Diana, Hewitt has been the subject of paternity rumors surrounding Prince Harry. Supporters of this point to physical similarities between the two, including their redhair, as evidence. In every instance, Hewitt has refuted the allegations.
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Where is James Hewitt now?
Even after Diana’s untimely death in 1997, Hewitt’s allegations regarding the romance remained a sporadic source of media attention. He has given countless interviews over the years, and in 1999 he published a book called Love and War, in which he went into greater depth about the affair. As for his television appearances, they range from the 2004 Channel 5 reality show Back to Reality to the 2006 reality competition The X Factor: Battle of the Stars to an episode of Top Gear. He established the Polo House, a pub in Marbella, Spain, in 2009.
However, the company reportedly went out of business in 2013. Reports surfaced in March 2021 detailing James’s employment as a gardener outside the apartment building where he and his mother resided. Sources said he was spotted using a lawnmower and raking leaves on the peaceful Devon estate this week. It is alleged, however, that he and his neighbour disagreed about his gardening abilities after he could not make a century-old Yew tree “look royal.”
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Nearby resident Barry Presswell remarked at the time, “He made a dog’s supper of a beautiful 100-year-old yew tree which we can see from our window and used to admire.” Hewitt was a neighbor in a building in Farringdon near Exeter. In October 2022, it was announced that James had founded a non-profit organization to aid refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. James assisted in establishing a group called Humanitarian Online Payments (HOP), which successfully escorted nine-vehicle convoys of Ukrainians away from the conflict zone. Mikey Stewart Richardson and Hewitt started the group together.
