JAMES Hewitt has slammed rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir for taking advantage of Princess Diana — and turning him into the “most hated man in the world”.

He branded the journalist a “toad” for tricking her into confirming their extramarital affair in the 1995 Panorama interview.

James Hewitt has slammed rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir for taking advantage of Princess Diana Credit: w8media

He branded the journalist a ‘toad’ for tricking her into confirming their extramarital affair in the 1995 Panorama interview Credit: PA

Diana acknowledged the five-year relationship with the former Army officer — which had ended in 1991 Credit: Camera Press

James said: ‘I think any underhandedness — and particularly if it’s taking advantage of someone’s weakness and being a toad — is wrong’ Credit: Getty
While discussing her painful break-up with Prince Charles, Diana acknowledged the five-year relationship with the former Army officer — which had ended in 1991.

She admitted to Mr Bashir: “Yes, I was in love with him, but I was very let down.”

An inquiry later found the shamed presenter used “deceitful means” to win the chat — which included drip feeding Diana false accusations about her staff and friends.

James, 66, now working with a charity helping Ukrainians oppose Russian despot Vladimir Putin, is still angered by Mr Bashir’s behaviour and the consequences of it.

He told The Sun on Sunday: “I think the chap needs to seriously search his conscience. To do it by deception is unforgivable and there is very little road back from that.

“I don’t know him personally, but I think any underhandedness — and particularly if it’s taking advantage of someone’s weakness and being a toad — is wrong. It did affect me and it had a huge effect.”

James says he now hopes the ­revelations about Mr Bashir put the story a different context now for the public to understand.

He said: “I hope people realise that the whole of the programme should be seen for what it was — and that was to deceive somebody into saying things and doing things that they may not necessarily have been willing to say had all the facts been known.

“It was not good for anybody except BBC figures and Martin Bashir’s career.

“It wasn’t exposing anything, it was just using lies and half-truths.”
Ex-BBC chief Lord Birt says Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana is ‘absolute horror story’
He claims the backlash turned him into an international pariah — and left a permanent stain on his reputation.

He was even plagued by rumours he was Prince Harry’s real father — despite his insistence he and Diana first met in 1986 — two years after Harry’s birth.

An independent investigation in 2021 by Supreme Court Judge John Dyson found Mr Bashir, 61, had been “devious” and “dishonest” in his dealings with Diana.

Speaking at a hotel near his home in Devon, James says being known as Diana’s lover — and branded a “cad” — meant he was never able to settle down and have children of his own.

He said: “I do regret not having a more normal existence in that respect — a successful marriage and children that might have gone on to be successful.”

He says he still does not rule out starting a family but admits “it’s ­difficult to envisage now”.

Independent investigation

He adds: “I do think I’ve missed out on that. I would have liked to have had children but there we are, you can’t have everything in life.”

Asked why he remained single, he said: “I think it’s pretty obvious given my history, and the difficulties thereafter, and having been the most hated person in the world.”

James has also had some serious health traumas to deal with.

He ­suffered a stroke in 2017 after having to undergo open heart surgery.

His relatives were warned he only had a 20 per cent chance of surviving after he fell seriously ill with a bacteria infection which impacted a valve in his heart.

He recalls of the operation: “It caused a stroke and it took a long time to recuperate from that.

I think the chap needs to seriously search his conscience. To do it by deception is unforgivable and there is very little road back from that

James Hewitt
“It left me paralysed on my left-hand side and it took about six months to get any feeling back.

“I also had a septic embolism and lost a clementine-sized ball from the frontal lobe of my brain.

“I was in hospital for about five months and I think that was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. But I was lucky. Had they not got me when they did, I would not have survived more than one more day, maybe less.”

James has now spent the past two years taking part in dangerous aid missions to Ukraine.

He has been involved as a driver and fund-raiser with the Make A Difference Foundation charity and its Operation SafeDrop — making aid drops and evacuating more than 3,000 people to safety.

He said: “I feel like I’ve been given a new lease of life. I’ve got to try to be a bit better this time around and a bit more useful. I didn’t want to be sitting at home on the sofa watching television and shouting at it every time Putin’s ugly mug came on.”

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James pictured in army uniformCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

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James has now spent the past two years taking part in dangerous aid missions to Ukraine
He is set for his 16th aid drop in January and relishes the work with the organisation, which he believes has proven useful for the UN and Red Cross.

He said: “We have done stuff for them that they are unable to do, understandably, as they can’t have their people too near the front — and we are prepared to do that.

“I maintain that the most dangerous thing we do is the driving because it’s a long, long way from the Polish border to the front line.

But if we don’t stop him, Putin will be encouraged to do more and it’s a battle between good and evil

I don’t know him personally, but I think any underhandedness — and particularly if it’s taking advantage of someone’s weakness and being a toad — is wrong. It did affect me and it had a huge effect

James Hewitt
“You could not find a starker example of that. Putin is a bully and a thug and you have to think about the wider geopolitical effect as, if we give up on Ukraine, it will encourage China.

“Time is seriously running out and watching Remembrance Day last week — and thinking of all the people that have died fighting for freedom — made me wonder if we should be doing more.”