Princess Diana’s Former Lover Maintains He Is Not Prince Harry’s Father

The “James Hewitt is Prince Harry’s dad” rumor is like the posh British version of the “O.J. Simpson is Khloe Kardashian’s dad” that just won’t go away. Usually, thanks to some new interview, it resurfaces every few months or years, receiving a brief news cycle before returning to the storage bin of celebrity rumors and conspiracy theories where it remains the rest of the time.

James Hewitt, who met Princess Diana in 1986 as her horse-riding instructor, and then struck up a five-year affair with her while she was married to Prince Charles, has long been rumored to be Prince Harry’s father (there is many a side-by-side composite out there attempting to help make the case).

Despite the extreme improbability that, uh, this is the case, and the fact that he has repeatedly denied that he is Harry’s father, Hewitt is still being asked about the claim. (He has been questioned about the rumor dating back to Harry’s 18th birthday.) Appearing on an Australian television program, Sunday Night, over the weekend, Hewitt was asked point blank if he was the prince’s father, to which he replied, “No, I’m not.” He’s not, you guys. He added that the way in which the rumor will not die is “worse for [Harry than it is for me], probably, poor chap.” (This is likely the only time Prince Harry will ever be referred to as “poor chap.”)

Hewitt—who has never married or had children—had plenty to say about his relationship with Diana, however. He said that their relationship quickly accelerated after the two first met. “It’s a gradual period and then, you know, suddenly you can’t get enough of each other or see each other as much as you want,” he said. Diana would usually flee to his farm for secret meet-ups. “I’d cook and [Diana] would wash up,” he recalled. “Just dinner and relaxing and laughing.”

We will likely never get an official comment from Harry on this matter, but we like to think he sighed this morning, scrolling through his phone over waffles, and sent a screenshot of Hewitt’s interview to girlfriend Meghan Markle. (“This again!?!?!” he texts, with a few of the angry red-face emojis—to which Markle responds, “Remember, babe: breathe in, breathe out, find your equilibrium and live in it.”)