Princess Diana's 'Lonely' Lover 'Never Moved On' From Her Death, Pals Say
Mar. 8 2017, Updated 12:52 a.m. ET
Princess Diana's lover James Hewitt is now a far cry from the dashing Army officer that once captured the late royal's heart. Just a few months from the 20th anniversary of Diana's shocking death, click through Radar's exclusive photos to see the man who had been rumored to be Prince Harry's father in his new lonely life.
The 58-year-old former polo player was spotted with receding hair, glasses, and an oversized sleeveless jacket, driving his 12-year-old blue estate car to a gas station in Devon, southern England, on a Saturday morning.
Afterwards, he headed home and wasn't seen leaving his home for the remainder of the weekend.
Red-headed Hewitt leads a lonely life, sharing an apartment in a converted stately home deep in the English countryside with his elderly mother. Ironically, the place where he lives is just a few miles from the pretty country cottage once owned by his mother, where he and the Princess Diana regularly met for trysts in the 1980s.
His mother, Shirley, 87, told Radar, "James leads a quiet life. He comes and goes from here and doesn't want anyone else to know his business."
James himself, when asked about Diana, who died on August 31, 1997, in a Paris car crash, told Radar, "I've nothing to say."
According to locals, Hewitt also used to enjoy nights with Princess Diana at another property his family owned in nearby Lympstone. Angela Connelly and partner Mike Cole who run a pub in the picturesque village called The Globe, still proudly display a painting of Lympstone showing James and Diana.
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Connelly told Radar, "James and Diana used to meet at his family's cottage here. In 1996 we decided to have it commemorated in a painting, and both their faces were painted at a window on the house where they used to meet."
"James has barely been seen here since then," Connelly told Radar. "He leads a very quiet life and it's quite sad, to be honest. He's forever associated with Diana and he has never moved on and married and had a family of his own."
A neighbor of Hewitt's told Radar, "James is a very lonely figure these days. "He doesn't have a job and hardly ever goes out. He leads a very quite life indeed. This year, the 20th anniversary of the Princess's death, he's more determined to stay out of the limelight than ever before.
"It's clear though that Diana was the love of his life even though she was still married to Prince Charles when they had their affair," Hewitt's neighbor told Radar. "It's certainly a blessing and a curse that he ever got involved with Diana. It's something he's never going to be able to move on from."
"Living so close to where they used to meet is a constant reminder of her and the times they had," the neighbor told Radar. "It's clear he's never going to be able to move on from that relationship."
The biggest scandal to surround the couple were claims that Prince Charles was not the father of Prince Harry, but that it was Hewitt. He has insisted,"There really is no possibility whatsoever that I am Harry's father. I can absolutely assure you that I am not." He also said Prince Harry was "already walking" when his relationship with Diana began.
Hewitt and Princess Diana's relationship started in 1986, when she presented him with a trophy at a polo tournament. It lasted until after he had served as a tank commander in the 1991 Gulf War.
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