Princess Diana’s intimate love letters to James Hewitt are ‘set to go on sale’ in the US for around $1m – sparking fears they will be made public
Princess Diana’s intimate love letters to James Hewitt will reportedly go on sale in the United States for around $1 million, sparking fears they will be made public.
Former Household Cavalry officer Mr Hewitt, who had a five-year affair with the then Princess of Wales between 1986 and 1991, kept 64 letters she wrote to him.
A US auction house has now reportedly lined up a wealthy collector to buy the notes, priced at up to $1 million, or £780,000 – in what has been called the ‘final insult’ to the memory of the late princess, murdered in a car. crash in August 1997.
Mr Hewitt, 65, is said to have previously offered the letters – written between 1989 and 1991 – as collateral for a £500,000 loan.
Intermediaries acting on his behalf contacted London auction house Bonhams last October with a view to selling the collection Sun on Sunday reported today.
Diana, Princess of Wales (pictured leaving the English National Ballet studios in February 1996), had an affair with James Hewitt between 1986 and 1991
Former Household Cavalary officer James Hewitt kept 66 letters that Diana wrote to him
Reports indicate that intermediaries on his behalf contacted auction companies about the notes
Bonhams refused to sell them and advised finding a buyer on the other side of the Atlantic. The American auction house Heritage was then contacted.
The company, based in Dallas, Texas, describes itself as “the largest collectibles auctioneer in the world.”
Ingrid Seward, author of the royal book My Mother and I, said: ‘James Hewitt betrayed Diana in so many ways, so this is just the latest insult.
‘I assume Hewitt needs the money urgently and sees the value of these letters.
‘Diana was a prolific letter writer, but not of this intimate nature. It is unthinkable that these notes from such a sensitive period in her life could be made public.”
Diana confirmed the affair with Mr Hewitt during her now infamous 1995 Panorama interview with disgraced journalist Martin Bashir.
She said at the time: ‘Yes, I loved him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very disappointed.’
Mr Hewitt was a young Household Cavalry officer at the time and had served as a tank squadron commander in the first Gulf War.
A now iconic photo, taken during their secret relationship, shows Diana presenting the Captain and Subalterns Cup to Mr Hewitt after he led his army polo team to victory in Tidworth, Wiltshire, in 1989.
After leaving the army in 1994, he caused controversy after working with Anna Pasternak, author of Princess In Love, and was reportedly paid £300,000 for sharing details of his relationship with Diana.
Less than a decade later, he said he was willing to sell Diana’s letters.
A photo from 1989 shows Diana presenting the Captain and Subalterns Cup to Mr Hewitt after he led his army polo team to victory in Tidworth, Wiltshire – their affair was still ongoing at the time
Diana confirmed her affair with Mr Hewitt during her 1995 interview with BBC1’s Panorama
During an appearance last week on US TV chat show Larry King Live in 2003, Mr Hewitt claimed the letters deserved wider distribution because they were “important historical documents”.
He indicated that he would be willing to accept an offer of £10 million and there were suggestions at the time that Prince William was considering buying them.
But accusations of treason followed and the letters remained unsold.
Today’s report says experts at Bonhams estimate the collection of letters to be worth between $400,000 (£311,000) and $600,000 (£466,000).
In an email, the company reportedly told Mr Hewitt’s agents: ‘We believe that an open market auction would almost certainly be the best way to obtain the best price.
‘We would recommend sales in the US as there appear to be more potential buyers at this level and the sale is likely to be less controversial than in Britain.’
An email sent in late January by a leading figure at Heritage read: “After much discussion, it was decided that the best way to proceed was to work with a likely potential buyer they already had in mind for a private sale.
“They (the Heritage partners) believe that this would keep the letters from appearing on public auction for a long time and spare us any negative consequences.”
Arrangements to “fully insure the equipment for $1 million” were also discussed.
A spokesperson for Mr Hewitt told The Sun on Sunday: ‘Heritage Auctions has been contacted on behalf of a representative of James Hewitt solely to value and authenticate the letters for personal and insurance purposes.
“He has no intention of selling and is not soliciting offers to purchase.”
A spokesman for James Hewitt has said he only had the letters appraised and ‘has no intention of selling’.
Mr Hewitt was reportedly paid £300,000 for sharing details of his relationship with Diana for Anna Pasternak’s 1994 book Princess In Love
Mr Hewitt, pictured here at the Chagstock Music Festival in Devon in July 2018, previously commanded a tank squadron in Iraq during the first Gulf War
Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, told the Sun on Sunday: “We can’t comment, I can’t comment. I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t comment on that. No comment.’
The Daily Mail revealed in 2021 that Mr Hewitt was now living with his widowed mother in the Devon village of Farringdon, where he worked as a £4,000-a-year gardener in her apartment block.
The following year, he founded a nonprofit to help vulnerable people escape war-torn Ukraine, along with the son of a decorated British commander who had set up a similar fund in Afghanistan.
In recent years, Mr Hewitt has suffered both a heart attack and a stroke, but in December 2022 it was revealed he also drove thousands of miles across war-torn Ukraine to rescue innocent civilians left behind by the Russian invasion.