Prince Harry’s Ex Reportedly Broke Up with Him After Being “Spooked” By Prince William and Kate Middleton

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 30 July 2022

Prior to marrying Meghan Markle, Prince Harry had two serious girlfriends—Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas who, like Meghan, was an actress. After reportedly being introduced by Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, in 2014 Harry and Cressida were in the midst of their two-year relationship when a book claims that Cressida broke up with Harry after becoming “spooked” in the aftermath of a royal tour undertaken by Harry’s brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton, deciding that the pressure of royal life was just too much for her, The Mirror reports.

After seeing Kate on TV during she and William’s royal tour of Australia and New Zealand, Robert Lacey, writing in his book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry—The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, said that was the last straw for Cressida.

“A rising actress, Cressida did not enjoy the critical remarks that she could hear people making behind her back when she walked down the street in London,” he writes. “She felt that the fame of her relationship put her ‘in a box.’”

Then, in 2014, Lacey continues “she was said to have been ‘completely spooked’ after watching the TV coverage of William and Kate touring New Zealand with baby George in tow. That was not the way she would want to enjoy her eight-month-old son, she regretfully explained to Harry.”

At the time of their breakup, a friend said “it’s very sad that they have decided to split, but this is a completely amicable separation, and they are remaining the very best of friends.”

Harry went on to meet Meghan in 2016, became engaged in 2017, and married her in 2018. True to the friend’s aforementioned statement, Cressida was in attendance at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. And now Cressida is expecting a baby of her own: she is currently pregnant with her first child with her husband of two years, Harry Wentworth-Stanley.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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