22/07/2004

'Love rat' Hewitt bailed after drugs arrest

Princess Diana's former lover, James Hewitt, has been arrested for possession of cocaine, the BBC has reported today.

Mr Hewitt, 46, was arrested at a south west London bar on Wednesday night. He, along with a woman who was held on suspicion of supplying a Class A drug, have been released on bail.

They will both return to a police station in September.

A conviction for cocaine possession can carry a sentence of seven years imprisonment.

James Hewitt, a former captain in the Life Guards who fought in the first Gulf War, started his five-year affair with the Princess of Wales in 1987.

In Princess In Love, which he was behind, and his autobiography, Love and War, James Hewitt laid bare the details of his affair with the princess – for which he was dubbed 'Love Rat' by the tabloid press. In her 1995 interview for Panorama, Diana said that she felt "very let down" by what she viewed as a betrayal by her former lover.

In January 2003, Mr Hewitt told CNN's Larry King that he would consider selling love letters from the princess – despite once pledging never to part with them. He was reportedly offered £4 million for the letters.

(gmcg)

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