Will and Kate's Wedding Convinced One of Prince Harry's Exes to Leave Him for Good
Before he married Meghan Markle, Prince Harry was involved, on and off, with Chelsy Davy for seven years. Davy realized she couldn't stay with Harry after seeing the spectacle of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in 2011.


Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to Marie Claire. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
It may not seem like it now, but there was a time before the modern fairytale that is Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's romance. And, like everyone else, Harry has a romantic past. One of his most serious girlfriends was Chelsy Davy, who he dated off and on for seven years and reportedly considered proposing to one point.
The thing that killed Harry and Chelsy's relationship for good? Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding in 2011, which Chelsy attended as Harry's date. There was no blow up fight you missed in the tabloids or anything dramatic like that. The wedding just made Chelsy realize that she couldn't see herself as a royal bride.
According to The Mirror, journalist Angela Levin revealed the reason for Harry and Chelsy's split in her royal biography Harry: Conversations with the Prince.
"A friend revealed that seeing the enormity and pomp of the day convinced Chelsy that she and Harry had been right to separate," she wrote. "Although they had a lot in common, she saw clearly that because they came from such different worlds it could never have worked, especially as she valued her privacy and guarded it so carefully."
While Harry and Chelsy did try one last time to rekindle their romance in 2015, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl's biography of Harry, Will and Kate's wedding was the moment Chelsy felt sure she couldn't take the pressures of the public life of a royal. This makes sense, since Chelsy has been very open about the stress that came with dating Harry in interviews.
"It was so full-on: crazy and scary and uncomfortable," Chelsy said during a June 2016 interview with The Times. "I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldn’t cope. I was young, I was trying to be a normal kid, and it was horrible."
Marie Claire Newsletter
Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Prince William and Prince Harry Rift: "Happy Families Are Not a Game That Everyone Can Play," Says Expert
Yeesh.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Pierce Brosnan Gave His Wife Keely 60 Roses for Her 60th Birthday
These two!!!
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Travis Kelce Jerseys Have Seen a "400% Spike in Sales" Amid Rumored Taylor Swift Romance
The power this woman has...
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Prince William and Prince Harry Rift: "Happy Families Are Not a Game That Everyone Can Play," Says Expert
Yeesh.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Not Having a U.K. Home Base "Isn't Overly Helpful," Source Says
I can see that.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Prince Harry "Snapped King Charles' Olive Branch in Half," Says Commentator
Eek.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Royal Expert Says Prince Harry Turned Down King Charles’ Invitation to Join Him at Balmoral
“For Harry, this was a missed opportunity.”
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Meghan Markle is a Huge Fan of This Academy-Award Winning Actress—and Apparently Really Wants to Work With Her
Good news? The admiration is mutual.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
George, Charlotte and Louis Will Be Laden With Gifts as Prince William Returns From New York
He was handed so many souvenirs for the little ones.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
The Exact J.Crew Sweater Blazer Meghan Markle Wore to the Invictus Games is Available to Order Again
It’s also available in other colorways.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Here's Where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Stay, Eat, and Visit While in New York City
Prince William arrives in the Big Apple today, but hopefully he’ll have time to have a little fun, too, maybe at one of these hotspots.
By Rachel Burchfield