Hewitt free to sell Diana letters, says lawyer

Intimate letters hand written by Diana, Princess of Wales could be auctioned off and sold by her former lover James Hewitt, his lawyer revealed today.

“The letters belong to James Hewitt, he is free to sell them either to a private collector or by auction if he wants to,” Mr Michael Coleman said.

He made his comments as the News of the World revealed it set up a sting where Mr Hewitt agreed to sell the 64 letters for up to £10 million to an undercover reporter posing as a Swiss tycoon.

“I can confirm we were approached, an unsolicited approach, by someone posing to be a private collector,” said Mr Coleman.

“The story is accurate in the newspaper, it is just the emphasis that is wrong,” he added.

“After first having an undertaking that if the letters were purchased they would not be made public, we opened negotiations with the supposed private individual.”

“If there is an undertaking that they will not be made public, then he is willing to sell to a private collector or something like a museum, provided firstly, that there is an undertaking that the letters will not be seen.”

“The letters were intended to stay private and they will stay private. The only people who has caused them to be made public is the News of the World,” the lawyer added