Prince Harry recently had a legal dispute with a major UK newspaper. He firmly rejected the persistent rumors that suggest his real father is James Hewitt, a former cavalry officer. Prince Harry, along with Meghan Markle, has been dealing with privacy concerns in battles against well-known publishers such as Daily Mirror and Mail on Sunday.
In his successful court case against Mirror Group Newspapers Limited in December 2023, Prince Harry opened up about the hurtful impact of rumors surrounding his paternity. He mentioned that these rumors felt very damaging to him. Despite their efforts to maintain their privacy, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex found themselves addressing personal matters in the public eye during this legal process.
The media has often questioned Prince Harry’s parentage, with rumors suggesting that Princess Diana’s former riding instructor, James Hewitt, is the father of her second son.
In his 1999 memoir, “Love and War,” Hewitt recounted how Princess Diana asked him to provide her with riding lessons, and, as he expressed in his book, “Only one thing went wrong – we fell in love.”
Princess Diana herself acknowledged the relationship during her 1995 interview with BBC’s Martin Bashir. When asked if their connection went “beyond a close friendship,” Diana candidly replied, “Yes, it did, yes.”
When the media learned about Princess Diana’s connection with Hewitt, speculation arose that he might be Prince Harry’s father. Reporters and self-proclaimed experts often drew physical comparisons between Hewitt and Harry, emphasizing their shared red hair. Despite the widespread belief fueled by these observations, both parties and individuals associated with the royal circle have consistently denied any truth to these speculations.
In a statement obtained by the New York Times (via Page Six), Prince Harry strongly condemned the paternity rumors. He expressed the impact these stories had on him at the age of 18, having lost his mother, Princess Diana, just six years earlier. The Duke described the rumors as “hurtful,” “mean,” and cruel, leaving him questioning the motives behind such stories. He wondered whether the newspapers aimed to sow doubt in the minds of the public, possibly with the intention of removing him from the Royal Family.
In his witness statement, the Duke referenced two articles from December 2002 with headlines “Plot to rob the DNA of Harry” and “Plot to steal Harry’s DNA.” Prince Harry also emphasized the timeline of Princess Diana’s relationship with James Hewitt.
It wasn’t until 2014 that Harry discovered the accurate timeline, realizing that Princess Diana hadn’t even met Major Hewitt until after his birth. The head of the Archewell Foundation pointed out that the claim of a “highly placed royal source” spreading the paternity rumor was false. Prince Harry firmly stated that he did not believe anyone from “within the Palace” was involved in spreading such gossip, citing a policy to protect family members.
Despite the intriguing nature of the rumor, in reality, King Charles is Prince Harry’s biological father. James Hewitt openly denied the paternity rumor in a 2017 interview with Australia’s Channel Seven (via Independent). When asked if he was Harry’s father, he promptly responded, “No, I’m not.” Hewitt explained the persistence of the rumor by stating, “It sells papers,” acknowledging the negative impact on Prince Harry.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married from 1981 to 1996. Prince Harry was born in 1984, while Diana’s romantic involvement with Hewitt began in 1986.
