'Are you Harry's father?': Diana's secret lover ends 30-year rumour

It was the rumour that intrigued the world and fuelled speculation for almost thirty years: Who is Prince Harry’s father?

Princess Diana’s secret lover, James Hewitt, has finally given a definitive answer in an exclusive Sunday Night interview.

“Are you Harry’s father?” host Melissa Doyle asked.

“No I’m not,” he replied.

James, who prefers to “hide away” from the world in his home in southwest England, opened up about the claims that have plagued him since the 1990s.

“It sells papers,” he said. “It’s worse for him [Harry] probably, poor chap.”

Their story had the makings of a fairytale: an Army officer who fell in love with a princess. But their relationship was marred with scandal.

Diana was already married to the heir of the British throne, Prince Charles. And rumours were circulating that Charles was also seeing his former flame, Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Cracks were starting to appear in the royal marriage, but for James it was the start of a blossoming relationship with the Princess.

When asked if he recalled the moment he was falling for Diana, he smiled at the memory.

“Well, yes. 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.

James spent his time with the Princess doing ordinary things, like walking along the beach and cooking together.

“Well, I’d cook and she’d wash up. Just dinner and relaxing and laughing,” he said.

Protecting Diana on her secret rendezvous with James was her bodyguard Ken Wharfe.

Ken would sleep on a camp bed in a hallway while the Princess was behind closed doors with James.

“I didn’t have a problem with it, I mean… you know, it was pretty obvious what was happening and again, it wasn’t for me to moralize on this,” he said.

“I didn’t really have a view on it openly or inwardly, you know. It was her life, their life. I was there for one specific reason, I would never let her down.”

At the height of their affair, James was called to serve in the Gulf War.

The time apart put pressure on their relationship, but the romance came to a crashing halt when the affair was exposed in the media.

James admitted it was hard for him to talk about Diana, but did not regret ever meeting the Princess.

“No, I don’t regret that. I regret some of the things that have been caused by that but not that at all. No way.”

“I think she was quite easy to fall in love with really so I think I can be forgiven for that.”