Prince Harry Awkwardly Shut Down Those Rumors About His Real Father

Prince Harry’s highly-anticipated memoir, Spare, has officially arrived. Just as promised, the book features a number of bombshells, from his thoughts about King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla’s marriage to the truth about Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s bridesmaids dress drama. Harry didn’t hold anything back in his memoir, and according to Page Six, he even addressed the rumor that his real father is Princess Diana’s former lover, Major James Hewitt.

The Duke of Sussex broached the topic by revealing that his father, King Charles, “liked telling stories” that would often end “with a burst of philosophizing.”

“This was one of the best in his repertoire,” Harry said. “‘Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?’”

Harry said it was awkward because some people actually did believe he wasn’t King Charles’ son. “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 reportedly wrote in his book. “One cause of this rumor was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism.”

He continued, “Maybe it made them feel better about their lives that a young prince’s life was laugh-able. Never mind that my mother didn’t meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born, the story was simply too good to drop.”

Harry’s right. He was born in September 1984, two years before his mother met Hewitt at a party in 1986. According to People, shortly after Hewitt offered to become Princess Diana’s riding instructor, the pair began having an affair, which lasted for five years. They decided to end things once Hewitt was deployed to the Middle East, but Diana reportedly still sent him love letters.

In a 2002 interview with the Sunday Mirror (according to People), Hewitt addressed the rumors he’s Harry’s real father. “I have been aware for a while that the issue of Harry's paternity has been a major talking point. There really is no possibility whatsoever that I am Harry's father,” Hewitt said. “I can understand the interest, but Harry was already walking by the time my relationship with Diana began.”