Princess Diana’s former lover, James Hewitt, looked very different from the bold Army officer who captured the heart of the deceased royal when he was seen doing errands this week.
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with dark hair and wearing glasses, was spotted entering a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter on Wednesday.
The Gulf War veteran, who joined the army at age 20, donned his Guard Brigade tie for the tour.
This comes after it was revealed that James, who had a five-year affair with Diana while she was married to Prince Charles, is working as a gardener for £ 4,000 a year on the land in the apartment where he lives with his elderly mother.
Former Princess Diana lover James Hewitt, 62, looks very different from the bold Army officer who captured the heart of the deceased royal when he was spotted running errands over the weekend.
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with dark hair and wearing glasses, was spotted entering a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter
Hewitt gained public prominence in 1991, when his ex-fiancee revealed that they had parted ways because of his affair with Diana.
The case has lasted for five years, since 1986, when he was asked to teach riding lessons to the mother of two.
An now iconic photo, taken during their secret relationship, shows Diana introducing the Captain and Subalterns Cup to Mr. Hewitt after leading her Army polo team to glory in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
Hewitt spent 17 years at Household Cavalry and was a tank commander in the first Gulf war.
In a now iconic image at the height of her case, Diana was portrayed by presenting the Life Guard officer with a polo trophy in 1989
But when he learned that he had had a long correspondence with the Princess of Wales during the Gulf War, he was released from Life Guards in 1994.
After the case was made public, he was repeatedly accused of profiting from the relationship.
In 1994, three years before Diana’s death and two years after her formal separation from Prince Charles, Mr. Hewitt cooperated with author Anna Pasternak for the book Princess In Love. It has become a best seller.
This led Diana to say to Martin Bashir in his famous revealing interview for Panorama: ‘Yes, I loved him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very disappointed, ‘
James, who joined the army at age 20, wore his Guards Brigade tie to go to the supermarket
James filled his shopping cart, including sparkling wine and other groceries, before putting it in his Porsche.
In the years that followed her death, Mr. Hewitt wrote two more books about the relationship while appearing on reality TV.
He was repeatedly accused of conspiring to sell the private letters he had received from the princess, but no sales were revealed.
He moved to Marbella to open his own bar, the Polo Club, but it closed in 2013 and returned to the West Country to be closer to his mother.
In a 2011 interview, he credited his mother Shirley, now 92, for saving his life when he committed suicide in the 1990s.
The former Army captain and Gulf War veteran, who had a five-year affair with Diana while she was married to Prince Charles, wore his Guards Brigade tie for the tour.
The redhead James now leads a lonely life sharing an apartment in a converted mansion in the countryside of England with his elderly mother.
His mother, Shirley previously revealed: ‘James leads a peaceful life. He comes and goes from here and doesn’t want anyone to know about your business. ‘
It was revealed earlier this month that James takes care of the grounds of the 17th-century mansion, which spans six acres and includes two lakes.
The ex-military man, mentioned in dispatches in the first Gulf War, is responsible for maintaining the facade of the house and the back garden.
His salary is financed by the association of residents of the apartment block where his mother lives, called residents of Farringdon House, who contribute to a fund that is supervised by a management company.
James, who lives with his 92-year-old mother in Exeter, carefully placed his coat on the cart while finishing the day’s shopping
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with dark hair and wearing glasses, was spotted entering a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter earlier this week
Therefore, he receives £ 15 a day plus two extra payments of £ 250 every six months to maintain another neighboring site.
Just four years ago, Hewitt suffered a stroke and heart attack and spent several weeks in the hospital recovering.
Now he is feeling well enough to try online dating, where his Tinder profile says he is looking for women in their 50s to get into his affections.
It is all very different from his previous life, where he won the heart of a princess and even read bedtime stories to his young children.
James shares an apartment in this converted Devon manor house with his mother