James Hewitt
For the article about the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, see James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford.
Major James Hewitt (born in
London, on
30th April 1958), former
British household cavalry officer, is famous for being the lover of
Diana, Princess of Wales. He has courted controversy by revealing details of their affair.
Diana admitted in her famous
Panorama interview that she had committed adultery with Hewitt, saying, "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him." As Diana was then the wife of the
Prince of Wales, heir to the throne, this would be
high treason, if prosecuted. It has been suggested that Hewitt is the natural father of
Prince Harry, though he claims to have met Diana for the first time in
1986, two years after Harry was born. Hewitt became Diana's riding instructor, with the affair said to have begun in
1987 and ending in
1992. He retired from the
Life Guards in March
1994 after 17 years of service.
In a recent interview, Maj. Hewitt admitted under hypnosis that he'd met Diana in 1981 or 1982 and that their affair began shortly afterward, fuelling conspiracy theories that he may be Prince Harry's natural father. [
1]
Hewitt made the news by attempting to sell letters that Diana had written to him. On
21 July,
2004 he was arrested at a bar in
London on suspicion of being in possession of a
Class A drug, reportedly
cocaine. He was bailed to report to police in September.
James Hewitt lifted 82.5kg in the 2003 weightlifting event of Channel Four's
The Games (a celebrity athletics tournament), setting a record which he held jointly with 2004 competitor
Shane Lynch, until this was beaten in 2005 by
Philip Olivier. He eventually came second.
In 2003, James took part in the
Five reality TV show
Back To Reality and eventually won it.
In 2005, he took part in the ITV wrestling competition
Celebrity Wrestling.
In 2005 James appeared on
Heads Up with Richard Herring to discuss his life, career and his love of poker.
In 2006 he appeared on the BBC show
Top Gear as a celebrity guest, achieving a lap time of 1.47.69. He was not recognised by presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who referred to him as "the well spoken man".
He was then seen on the
Sky One show Vroom Vroom, where he accepted the Cat and Mouse Challenge.
In May 2006, Hewitt starred as a contestant in
The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars, alongside fellow kiss-and-tell "celebrity"
Rebecca Loos, but was evicted after the final showdown on Thursday Night (Night 4). Simon Cowell mentored him, and was as nice as Simon Cowell can ever be, but still could not deny the complete absence of any vocal talent.
In July 2006 he was interviewed by a Swedish TV show called
High Chaparall in which he was interviewed over several days whilst carrying on his normal life.
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Video: James Hewitt at the shooting range
