James Hewitt, the former lover of Princess Diana, 64, has pledged to become a civilian volunteer, driving thousands of miles through war-torn Ukraine to rescue innocent civilians left homeless after Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Hewitt has already carried out a mission for Help4Ukraine, and will be back in the country again before Christmas. Before joining Help4Ukraine, he teamed up with former Coldstream Guards officer Mikey Stewart-Richardson, criss-crossing the country over 2,500 miles and rescuing other refugees. Among them – she said – was a teacher, Irene, who for more than a month «had been living underground, without water, without electricity, without heating, without gas for cooking, without clean clothes. Her apartment had been destroyed.’
Before leaving as a volunteer, Hewitt set up a nonprofit earlier this year to help vulnerable people flee Ukraine, along with the son of a decorated British commander who set up a similar fund in Afghanistan.
Hewitt also helped set up HOP, Humanitarian Online Payments, an organization that takes Ukrainian families to safe homes in Lviv, Kiev, the UK or the EU.