James Hewitt

For other people named James Hewitt, see James Hewitt (disambiguation).

James Hewitt (born 1958), a former British household cavalry officer in the British Army, had an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales for five years. He received extensive media coverage after revealing details of the affair.

Diana, Princess of Wales, admitted in her 1995 Panorama interview that she had committed adultery with Hewitt. Persistent suggestions have been made that Hewitt, and not Charles, is the biological father of Prince Harry. These suggestions have been based on a physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry. However Hewitt stated to the press in 2002 that Harry had already been born by the time the affair between him and Diana began.

Hewitt was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, but grew up in Kent and Devon. He was educated at Millfield School and Sandhurst. He served as a Challenger tank commander in the Gulf War, and failed his exam for the rank of Major three times. In March 1994 , he was retired from the Life Guards after 17 years in military service and six months before the publication of Anna Pasternak's Princess in Love, a book for which Hewitt was a major source. His former military regiment declared him persona non grata at their barracks.

Hewitt opened a golf driving range in 1994. Later, he tried to sell his sixty personal letters from Diana for £10 million.

In July 2004, Hewitt was arrested outside a restaurant in Fulham with Alison Bell, a CNN journalist, on accusation of possessing cocaine. A drunken Hewitt had .36 grams of cocaine in his pocket. He was given a warning, and Bell was released without charge. As a result, he was refused reinstatement of his gun licences because of his "intemperate habits" after police found a disassembled 16-bore shotgun on his living room floor.

Hewitt opened The Polo House, a bar in the fashionable Golden Mile of Marbella, Spain in the spring of 2009.

Television career

• Hewitt lifted 82.5 kg in the 2003 weightlifting event of Channel 4'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, Hewitt took part in the Five reality TV show Back To Reality and eventually won it.
• In July 2004, he took part in the Swedish TV show High Chaparall, in which he was interviewed.
• In 2005, he took part in the ITV wrestling competition Celebrity Wrestling where he went under the moniker "Gentleman Jim", and appeared on Heads Up with Richard Herring to discuss his life and love of poker.
• In 2005 Hewitt appeared on Car Cruzin', a UK documentary series showcasing cars of rich and notable individuals. Hewitt presented his Range Rover Sport, and also revealed that he is not allowed to own firearms.
• In 2005 he appeared in Bullrun: Cops, Cars & Superstars II, riding with Ryan Dunn in one out of the five Bravo cars.
• In 2006, he appeared on the BBC show Top Gear as a celebrity guest, achieving a lap time around the Top Gear test track in the Chevrolet Lacetti of 1:47.69. The presenters, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, failed to recognize him and he was thereafter referred to and added to the scoreboard as the "Well Spoken Man".
• 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). He was mentored by Simon Cowell who, despite being supportive, did not deny Hewitt's lack of vocal talent.
• In February 2007, he appeared on Al Murray's Happy Hour.
• Featured in ITV "prank show" Celebrity Stitch Up in which Hewitt was "arrested" by two actors pretending to be policemen. Accusing Hewitt of using live firearms, they proceeded to have him fire paintball guns planted in the car. The arresting officer declared that this was a prime case of "Guns, Birds, and Hewitt" and he was released without charge.