The royals - Kitty Kelley [183]
On a deeper level they bonded through the trauma of their parents’ divorces. Diana said she was determined that her children would not suffer the same kind of childhood she had. Yet despite her best efforts, she was subjecting them to the same violent quarrels and tearful recriminations she had seen between her parents. Hewitt had avoided making those mistakes by not getting married. As the only son, he was spoiled by his mother and indulged by his two sisters, with whom he remained close.
Unlike Charles, Hewitt lapped up Diana’s conversations. He listened attentively to her discuss her charity work and how much she enjoyed her royal duties when “they” (the Palace courtiers) left her alone. She felt as if she had a divine ability to minister to the sick and dying; she said this healing touch came from “spirits” that guided her. This enabled her to go beyond the ceremonial role of a royal princess visiting hospitals. She saw herself as Mother Teresa in a crown. She said she identified with victims and felt their pain. Although Hewitt did not understand her mysticism, he listened raptly and did not question her judgment—unlike the Bishop of Norwich, who was startled by Diana’s claims. When she told the cleric that she was a reincarnated spirit who had lived before, he looked puzzled. When she said she was protected by a spirit world of people she had known who had died, she said the Bishop looked horrified. But Hewitt was a simple man with no orthodox religion, and his silence encouraged her to keep talking.
She told him about her children, whom she called “my little knights in shining armor,” saying they were the most important people in her life. Over several weeks she guided Hewitt through the swamp of her marriage, and as she revealed the dismal secrets—the bulimia, the suicide attempts, the separate bedrooms, and the mistress—he saw a woman reeling with rejection. Like most men who met Diana, he felt protective.
Wisely, he let her make the first move, which she did by inviting him to dinner at Kensington Palace when Charles was at Highgrove. She dismissed most of her staff that evening and greeted Hewitt excitedly at the front door. She led him to her private sitting room and handed him a magnum of Champagne. She said she rarely drank, but this was a special occasion. He popped the cork and filled the flutes as she sat on the apricot-and-white-striped sofa. Looking around the room, he chuckled when he saw the embroidered maxim on one of her scattered pillows:
If You Think Money Can’t Buy Love
You Don’t Know Where to Shop.
He appreciated her shopping expertise at London’s finest stores because he’d been the lucky beneficiary of several extravagant sprees. He told her that members of his regiment had been impressed by the presents that had been arriving at his barracks. She lowered her eyes and giggled.
“Whether it’s friends, lovers, or relatives, Diana is very generous,” said interior designer Nicholas Haslam. “She’s incapable of not giving presents. She always arrives at my flat with some kind of lovely gift—a tie, a plant, a book. Unlike the rest of the royals, she knows how to spend money on other people.”
Among the presents Hewitt received from the Princess were a rust cashmere sweater from Harrods, four silk Hermès ties, and a pair of $1,500 hand-tooled leather riding boots from Lobb’s, London’s finest shoemaker. He also received a tweed hacking jacket with suede patches and leather buttons, three custom-made suits, ten Turnbull & Asser shirts with matching ties, two blazers, one dozen pairs of cashmere socks, two dozen silk boxer shorts, gold cuff links, a diamond-studded tie pin, and an eighteen-carat gold clock from Asprey, the royal jeweler.
Limited by his $50,000-a-year salary, the cavalry officer could not afford to reciprocate in the same grandiose style. “Instead I gave her the clothes off my back,” he said lightly. She asked him for his
T-shirt to wear to bed and his cricket