Among the multitude of tabloid stories and rumors that plagued the British Royal family over the years, there was one that was specially hurtful for Princess Diana, and subsequently for Prince Harry.
For decades, many have speculated that her the Princess’ riding instructor, James Hewitt, was Prince Harry’s real biological father, not King Charles.
After all, the rumor suggests, both Harry and Hewitt share ginger hair and freckles.
Now, a new book is tackling the story yet again, and hoping to put it to rest once and for all.
Richard Dalton, Diana’s hairdresser, has published a memoir called ‘It’s All About the Hair’, which details his friendship with the Royal, and has told the press that ‘it’s not possible’.
New York Post reported:
“’It was tough’, Dalton admitted. ‘Harry was already born a while before her relationship with Hewitt. And I don’t think it’s possible.[…] Harry and the Spencer family have red hair. Charles, Diana’s brother, had bright red hair when he was [in] college. And I used to cut his hair then. [Diana’s sister] Sarah, has bright red hair. [Diana’s other sister] Jane was more or less the same coloring as Diana’.”
Dalton writes that Diana ‘used to get very upset’ with the story, and adds that ‘the red hair was a trait from the Spencer family’.
Diana reportedly met Hewitt in 1986, which is two years after Harry was born, in 1984.
“’Diana was starved of affection and intimacy from her husband, the man she loved’, he wrote. ‘She was also an heir-making machine for Charles and was coming to terms with the betrayal within her marriage’.”
Later, Hewitt would write a book, signaling that their relationship ‘was a conquest and not a matter of love’.
In 2023, when Harry sued the Daily Mirror, he wrote a statement saying: “’Numerous newspapers had reported a rumor that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born’, Harry wrote. ‘At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born. […] They were hurtful, mean and cruel. I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories. Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public, so I might be ousted from the royal family?’”
In his memoir, “Spare,” Harry tells how his father joked about the painful gossip, which may help explain the difficult relationship between them.
“’Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire’, Harry wrote. ‘He’d always end with a burst of philosophizing … ’Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?’ […] He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumor circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt’, Harry shared. ‘One cause of this rumor was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism’.”
In 2002, Hewitt himself addressed the gossip:
“’I have been aware for a while that the issue of Harry’s paternity has been a major talking point’, said Hewitt, as quoted by People magazine. ‘There really is no possibility whatsoever that I am Harry’s father. I can understand the interest, but Harry was already aa walking by the time my relationship with Diana began [=…] It sells paper’, said Hewitt about the rumor. ‘It’s worse for [Harry], probably, poor chap’.”
Read more:
