The British Royal Family have endured countless rumours over the years. But perhaps the most persistent surrounds the identity of Prince Harry’s father.
Fuelled by little more than tabloid-touted speculation and a shared hair colour, it’s been suggested that Princess Diana’s former lover James Hewitt fathered the now 32-year-old.
The rumour been denied repeatedly by people close to the family, and as of last night, by Hewitt himself.
During a special episode of Sunday Night marking 20 years since the Princess’ death, the 58-year-old former army captain was questioned point-blank on the issue by Channel 7 journalist Melissa Doyle.
“Are you Harry’s father?” she said.
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“No, I’m not,” Hewitt responded.
Asked why the rumour persists, he said simply because “it sells papers”, a notion which Doyle said must be “heartbreaking” for both he and 32-year-old Prince Harry.
“It’s worse for him probably,” Hewitt said. “Poor chap.”
Hewitt and Princess Diana were in a romantic relationship for five years after he was employed to provide her with horse riding lessons in 1986 - two years after Prince Harry was born.
The former tank commander told Sunday Night it was "so easy" to fall in love with the princess and that he has no regrets about their relationship.
"I regret some of the things that have been caused by that, but not that at all," he said. "No way."
The affair was exposed and ended in 1991, when Hewitt left for the first Gulf War.
Hewitt, who now lives in Devon with his mother, in 2003 asked for £10 million (AU$16.1m) for a collection of 64 personal letters from Princess Diana, but the sale was reportedly unsuccessful.
It's unclear if he was paid for the Sunday Night interview.
Princess Diana's divorce from Prince Charles was finalised in 1995.
Top Comments
I'm rarely one for conspiracy theories but I did always think that she was killed off. I distinctly remember a year or so before her death she gave that TV interview criticising Charles and I recall thinking well she has signed her death warrant now because to be married to the heir to the throne and to admit to lovers getting a divorce etc was just unheard of, such a big scandal. Remember that the royal family gave been knocking off people for centuries that caused them any problems, and to find out the mother of the princes wasn't "pure" was just scandalous to the establishment. BTW I'm not judging the woman, I'm just saying that I'm sure this was what was going on in the heads of the establishment.
Also she almost destroyed the monarchy, at the time public opinion was on her side she was well loved and people didn't like The Queen, Charles etc. I really believe they decided she had to go to preserve their monarchy. And on top of that she started sleeping with Muslims! The mother of the princes! I can't just imagine how horrified the royals would have been.
I couldn't care less who she was going out with I'm just saying I'm sure that what she was doing horrified the traditionalists.
Personally I had no strong liking for her or any of the others, probably she was a nice woman but I always thought there was way too much hype about her when I don't honestly think anything she did was very remarkable, anyone can dress up and smile at patients in a hospital, she was hardly curing diseases. Not to be mean by all accounts she was a good mum and nice person but I think the acclaim she got was OTT but there is no denying many people were besotted with her, so I think her popularity was a real threat to the royal family, so I really think they decided she had to go.
I know they said there was thorough investigations into the car crash but I can't imagine anyone would be willing to lay blame at the door of the royal family. And in the video footage the driver didn't look drunk at all. Perhaps he had been drinking but I doubt to the extent they said.
And she did herself say she would be murdered, how many women have said they thought their husbands would murder them and then ended up dead. To me that is the most proof. Yes she seemed a sensitive type of person but there was never any suggestion she was delusional so why would she believe that her husband was going to have her killed. And she even identified the exact type of death - a car accident. I seem to recall someone close to her had a mysterious death to - I think a bodyguard or someone.
Oh well I guess if any of this is true it won't come to light till we are all gone.
I guess the question is, why wouldn't they kill her off. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
I have to agree - I always thought it odd that any of them, especially her highly trained body guard, would get into a car with anyone who was as drunk as they said. Plus there was video of the driver, Henri Paul, bending down to do up his shoe lace and standing straight back up without so much as a wobble. He certainly didn't look drunk - whereas his reading was "apparently" very high. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess we will never know. And there was also the amount of time it took to get the Princess to a hospital which was close by. Why would a critically injured patient be left at the scene for 3 hours?Surely any patient would be rushed to hospital asap - especially a Royal.
I annoy myself sometimes with my interest in trivia but here goes.
People jump to conclusions because of the hair colour don't they ?
Well, one day when Harry was in Australia the camera followed him at some event.............suddenly, he turned to look back and smiled - it was Prince Phillip's smile !
'Having seen years of his grandfather's images "looking cranky, looking bemused and smiling" - I was certain that's what I was seeing.
Besides - DNA testing...........you can bet there have been regular tests over the years as results have become more accurate - even without Harry's knowledge.
It's only important to the Royals of course if Harry ever becomes King.
There were some photos, I think last year, of Prince Philip in his younger days with a beard similar to Harry's, and they looked very alike.
Well that's interesting. Actually I recall thinking that when he was a little boy that he looked like Charles whilst William looked like Diana. I don't think he looks like Charles now but when he was a little boy I could definitely see it.
By the way enjoying our shared interest in trivia, I try to pretend in real life that I am above all this :) but hey I'm anonymous here!
To me, Harry looks quite a lot lot Charles, he clearly inherited the red hair from Diana and her side of the family - you just have to check her brother Charles to see that he and Harry have a very similar shade of red hair.
Yes, as Prince Harry has aged he has had more of a resemblance to his grandfather than anyone else.
The red hair is a lazy link by conspiracy theorists - Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, has hair a very similar colour and it's not that unusual for a blonde and a brunette to have kids with a ginge tinge.