Prince Harry, James Hewitt's Paternal Rumors 'Angered' Princess Diana 'Greatly'

Prince Harry may look similar to James Hewitt, but the latter is not the royal's dad.

There have been rumors swirling for years claiming that the former cavalry officer is the real father of Meghan Markle's husband-to-be. But there are no concrete details to prove this, even though the two are a look-alike.

Cosmopolitan shared several photos of Prince Harry with Prince Charles and Hewitt. In the photos, the Duke's appearance is closer to Hewitt than to the Prince of Wales but this is not an indication that Hewitt is Prince Harry's biological dad.

"The malicious rumors that still persist about the paternity of Prince Harry used to anger Diana greatly," Princess Diana's bodyguard Ken Wharfe wrote in the book "Diana: Closely Guarded Secret." "Harry was born on 15 September 1984. Diana did not meet James until the summer of 1986, and the red hair, gossips so love to cite as proof is, of course, a Spencer trait."

Princess Diana and Hewitt had an affair. The People's Princess admitted this on her Panorama interview in 1995. Her lover also confirmed it.

"It was never her intention to fall in love with me, and it was certainly not my intention to fall in love with Diana, but it happened because of the circumstances throwing us together," Hewitt said in an interview. "And I'm not going to suggest one way or the other whose fault it was, it developed and it was mutual."

However, Hewitt denied the rumors about Prince Harry's paternity. In fact, he has been denying it multiple times because when he started seeing Princess Diana, Prince Harry was already a toddler.

"Admittedly the red hair is similar to mine and people say we look alike," Hewitt told Sunday Mirror in 2002. "I have never encouraged these comparisons and although I was with Diana for a long time I must state once and for all that I'm not Harry's father. When I met Diana, he was already a toddler."

In 2017, Hewitt appeared on an Australian TV show and denied Prince Harry's paternity again. Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's butler also debunked the rumors.

"It's something that's been made up. It was just because Harry had red hair, but all the Spencers have red hair," Burrell said (via Cosmopolitan).

According to royal biographer Penny Junor, in 2003 the News of The World tested Prince Harry's hair to check his biological dad. It was negative for Hewitt. "If Harry had been shown to be James Hewitt's son, you can be sure we'd have known," the journalist wrote.

In related news, Prince Harry is tying the knot with Markle at St. George Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19. The wedding ceremony will begin 2 p.m. UK time (7 a.m. EST).