James Hewitt Breaks Silence: Princess Diana's Ex-Lover Slams 'Panorama' Journalist Martin Bashir for Leaving Him to Face Public's Wrath

Diana, Princess of Wales, once said she was "let down" by her ex-lover James Hewitt, 66, during her notorious November 1995 interview with former BBC journalist Martin Bashir, 61.

Now, the former cavalry officer-turned-royal tell-all author laid into Bashir for how he treated the doomed princess, calling the reporter "underhanded" and "a toad."

Hewitt told The Sun that Bashir's manipulating the princess into spilling so many intimate details about her life led to him becoming "the most hated man in the world."

"I think the chap needs to seriously search his conscience," he added. "To do it by deception is unforgivable and there is very little road back from that. I don't know him personally, but I think any underhandedness — particularly if it's taking advantage of someone's weakness and being a toad — is wrong. It did affect me and it had a huge effect."

Hewitt first met the one-time future queen in 1986 at a point when her marriage to then-Prince Charles "was totally broken down," a former royal aide once shared.

The soldier was tasked with teaching Diana horse riding, and their professional relationship soon developed into a romantic affair.

Diana herself confirmed the affair during the interview with Bashir for Panorama. She admitted to her feelings for Hewitt, stating, "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him."

Their relationship reportedly lasted about five years, however, it ended in the early 1990s, largely due to the pressures of public scrutiny and Hewitt's deployment to serve in the Gulf War. Diana's biographer, Andrew Morton, suggested that Hewitt's departure to the war left Diana feeling abandoned, contributing to the relationship's decline.

Following their breakup, Hewitt faced significant media attention, especially after collaborating on a tell-all book in 1994, Princess in Love, which revealed intimate details about their affair. This move was widely criticized, and many believed it violated Diana's trust.

In his lengthy June 2023 witness statement, Prince Harry addressed the existing rumors surrounding his paternity, and how British news sources fueled the public's speculation of Hewitt being the Duke's real father. Both Harry and numerous insiders and royal authors all claim it is impossible since the pair did not meet until two years after the prince's 1984 birth.

For decades, Diana and Bashir's hour-long exchange was thought to be "her truth, her terms." It was revealed to be anything but that during a 2021 inquest, which later in early 2024 saw a judge order that the BBC release some 3,000 emails pertaining to how Bashir manipulated the late royal and how executives worked to conceal it.

The reporter, who gained even wider fame for his "scandalous" documentary/interview with late pop star Michael Jackson in 2003, allegedly forged fake documents to persuade an emotional Princess of Wales to "tell her side" in her bitter separation from then-Prince Charles.

The event was later recreated in the fifth season of Netflix's The Crown, which reignited the controversy surrounding it.