JAMES HEWITT, the former Life Guards officer, began an attempt in America yesterday to sell the intimate love letters he received from Diana, Princess of Wales, for as much as £10 million.

He is expected to auction the 64 letters written by the Princess during their affair between 1989 and 1991, despite having previously asserted that he would “never dream” of selling them.

Michael Coleman, his lawyer, said in Los Angeles last night: “We have a number of serious offers from buyers, but some of them are concerned about the levels of publicity. The likelihood is that the letters will be auctioned, and the current plan is to go to a New York auction house and put them up for sale there." Major Hewitt, 44, is facing a bankruptcy hearing in the High Court later this month over VAT debts, and desperately needs the money.

Lawyers indicated that although he is free to sell the letters, the purchaser would not be free to publish them, as copyright resides with the trustees of the late Princess’s estate.

Major Hewitt regards a museum as the ideal repository for the 64 hand-written letters, and the British Library immediately stepped in to register a strong interest.

But Dr Christopher Wright, its head of manuscripts, made clear he could not enter a bidding war. He said: “We have a large collection of royal letters going back to the Tudors, including correspondence between Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex.

“Scholars from all over the world come here. We would take any approach very seriously but I understand figures of many millions have been cited and the British Library would not be in any position to raise such huge sums.”

The Millfield-educated Major Hewitt appeared on the American talk show Larry King Live to market the “Darling James” letters.

He said: “I’m not being hypocritical about this, I’m being honest. I think it’s important to understand that they are, or will, become important historical documents.” He said selling the letters was better than leaving them to “rot in a safe”.

“I think it might be irresponsible not to sell them and to generate something one can do some good with.”

The Gulf War veteran insisted the letters were not salacious. “They are extremely well-written, loving and nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.

He brushed aside suggestions that he should donate them to the British Museum and declined to say what he would do with the proceeds or whether he would donate any amount to charity.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the matter.

Major Hewitt’s intentions were revealed by News of the World last month, after the newspaper set up a sting in which he agreed to sell the letters for up to £10 million to undercover reporters posing as middlemen for a Swiss tycoon. He had earlier rejected a £4 million offer from an American collector for ten of the most intimate of the letters.

Major Hewitt, who receives an £8,000-a-year Army pension, is said to have made hundreds of thousands of pounds from newspaper articles and two kiss-and-tell books about his relationship with the Princess.

The existence of the letters emerged when Major Hewitt’s former lover, Anna Ferretti, allegedly stole them from his Devon home and tried to sell them to a newspaper in 1998. But that deal was foiled and they were handed over to Kensington Palace.

Major Hewitt then threatened to sue the Princess’s estate for their return. In a 1998 statement issued through his then solicitor, Mark Stephens, he said he “would never sell letters from Diana”.

Lawyers acting for the Princess’s estate advised that the 64 letters could not lawfully be kept from Major Hewitt, so her family reluctantly handed them back.

As criticism mounted of his move to sell the letters, the Duchess of York said: “I think he should just be quiet and go away. Betrayal, I think is the most horrible, horrible, disloyal thing you can do to anyone.”

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