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Princess Diana’s former lover, James Hewitt, looked a far cry from the dashing army officer who captured the heart of the late royal as he was spotted running errands this week.
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with shifty hair and wearing glasses, was spotted popping into a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter on Wednesday.
The Gulf War veteran, who joined the military at the age of 20, donned his Guards brigade tie for the outing.
It comes after it was revealed that James, who had a five-year affair with Diana while married to Prince Charles, was working as a gardener for £ 4,000 a year in the grounds of the apartment he lives with. his elderly mother.
Princess Diana’s ex-lover James Hewitt, 62, looks a far cry from the dashing Army officer who captured the heart of the late royal as he was spotted running errands during of the weekend.
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with receding hair and wearing glasses, was spotted hopping into a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter.
Mr Hewitt came to public prominence in 1991 when his ex-fiancee revealed that they had separated over his affair with Diana.
The case had lasted five years from 1986 when she was asked to give riding lessons to the mother of two.
A now iconic photo, taken during their secret relationship, shows Diana presenting the Captain and Subalterns Cup to Mr Hewitt after leading his Army polo team to glory in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
Hewitt had spent 17 years in the Household Cavalry and was a tank commander during the First Gulf War.
In a now iconic image at the height of their affair, Diana was pictured presenting Officer Life Guards with a polo trophy in 1989
But when it emerged that he had had a long correspondence with the Princess of Wales during the Gulf War, he was dismissed from his life with the 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 official separation from Prince Charles, Mr. Hewitt cooperated with author Anna Pasternak on the book Princess in Love. It has become a bestseller.
This led Diana to say to Martin Bashir in her famous Panorama interview, “ Yeah, I loved him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very disappointed, ‘
James, who joined the military at the age of 20, donned his Brigade of Guards tie for the trip to the supermarket
James loaded his cart full of groceries, including sparkling wine and other groceries, before placing it in his Porsche.
In the years since his death, Mr. Hewitt wrote two more books about the relationship while appearing on reality TV shows.
He has been accused on several occasions of conspiring to sell the private letters sent to him by the princess, but no sale has ever been revealed.
He moved to Marbella to open his own bar, the Polo Club, but which closed in 2013 and he 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 while he was suicidal in the 1990s.
The former army captain and Gulf War veteran, who had a five-year affair with Diana while married to Prince Charles, wore his Guard Brigade tie for the outing.
Red-haired James now leads a solitary life sharing an apartment in a converted stately home in the heart of the English countryside with his elderly mother.
His mother, Shirley, previously revealed: ‘James leads a quiet life. He comes and goes from here and doesn’t want anyone else to know about his business.
It was revealed earlier this month that James is tending to the grounds of the 17th century mansion which spans six acres and includes two ponds.
The former serviceman, who was mentioned in dispatches during the First Gulf War, is responsible for maintaining the front of the house and the immediate rear garden.
His salary is funded by the residents’ association of the building where his mother lives, called the residents of Farringdon House, all of whom contribute to a fund which is then overseen by a management company.
James, who lives with his 92-year-old mother in Exeter, carefully placed his coat on his cart as he finished shopping for the day.
The 62-year-old former polo player, now with receding hair and wearing glasses, was spotted popping into a supermarket to pick up his groceries in Exeter earlier this week.
For this he is paid £ 15 per day plus two additional payments of £ 250 every six months to maintain another nearby plot.
Just four years ago, Hewitt suffered a stroke and heart attack and spent several weeks in the hospital to recover.
Now he feels good enough to try out online dating where his Tinder profile says he’s looking for women around 50 to get into his affections.
This is all a far cry from his previous life where he won the heart of a princess and would even read bedtime stories to his young sons.
James shares a flat in this converted stately home in Devon with his mother
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