For decades, Prince Harry has been the subject of rumours suggesting that Princess Diana’s former lover, James Hewitt, is his real father rather than King Charles.
In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry, 40, directly addressed the conspiracy theory.
He revealed that the royal family was aware of the rumours and his father, King Charles, would joke about them – much to Harry’s discomfort.
Is Prince Harry the son of King Charles?
Yes, Prince Harry is the son of King Charles. The king and the late Princess Diana welcomed their second son Harry on September 15, 1984.
It came two years after they welcomed their son Prince William in June 1982.
What Prince Harry has said about rumours James Hewitt is his real father
According to Spare, Charles frequently made light of the rumours despite how hurtful they were.
“Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire,” Harry wrote.
He recalled Charles reportedly joking: “‘Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father? Maybe your real father is in Broadmoor, darling boy!’”
Broadmoor is a high-security psychiatric hospital in the UK, making the remark even more disturbing to Harry. The Duke of Sussex described how Charles would “laugh and laugh,” but for him, the joke was anything but amusing.
“A remarkably unfunny joke,” Harry noted. “Given the rumour circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt.”
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 acknowledged that one of the main reasons the rumour gained traction was Hewitt’s distinctive ginger hair, a feature Harry shares.
However, he argued that the real reason the speculation thrived was public cruelty.
“Tabloid readers were delighted by the idea that the younger child of Prince Charles wasn’t the child of Prince Charles,” Harry wrote. “They couldn’t get enough of this ‘joke’ for some reason. Maybe it made them feel better about their lives that a young prince’s life was laughable.”
Prince Harry expressed frustration that the truth – that Diana didn’t even meet Hewitt until 1986, two years after his birth in 1984 – was consistently ignored.
The duke penned: “Never mind that my mother didn’t meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born, the story was simply too good to drop.”
James Hewitt denied claims Prince Harry is his son
James Hewitt, now 66, has long dismissed the rumours that Harry is his son as ridiculous and false. He also expressed his sympathy for Harry.
In a 2017 interview, he remarked: “It sells papers. It’s worse for [Harry] probably, poor chap.”
Hewitt’s denial has done little to stop the speculation, but others close to Diana have also spoken out in support of Harry.
Princess Diana was ‘deeply upset’ by the James Hewitt and Harry rumours
Richard Dalton, Princess Diana’s former hairdresser, addressed the controversy in his 2024 book, It’s All About the Hair. He also refuted the claims that Hewitt could be Harry’s father.
According to Richard, Harry’s ginger hair is a Spencer family trait – not something inherited from Hewitt.
“Harry and the Spencer family have red hair,” he wrote. “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 colouring as Diana.”
Richard reiterated that Harry was born in 1984, while Diana and Hewitt didn’t meet until 1986.
He said: “Harry was already born a while before her relationship with Hewitt. And I don’t think it’s possible.”
According to Richard, Princess Diana was deeply upset by the paternity rumours. She found the speculation about Harry’s parentage cruel and hurtful, especially given how devoted Charles had been as a father during Harry’s childhood.
Despite clear evidence debunking the claim, the conspiracy theory continues to circulate.
