Lying, cheating, and compromising feet pics. The royals might appear
to have fairy tale lives, but their romances are anything but.
Chelsy Davy is often referred to as Prince Harry's first love. The prince met the Zimbabwean in Cape
Town during his gap year in 2004. According to Yahoo!, the pair quickly fell in love and began
a long-distance relationship. Their relationship went public later that year and Davy soon began
attending official royal events, but the pair eventually broke up for good after dating off
and on for several years. As Katie Nicholl wrote in her biography, "Harry: Life, Loss, and Love":
Apparently, his military deployment also put pressure on the couple.
In 2016, Davy opened up about the relationship in an interview with The Times,
saying that one of the hardest parts was dealing with the paparazzi. She recalled:
It seems that Davy remained friendly with Harry. In fact,
she even attended his wedding to Meghan Markle.
After breaking up with Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's next big relationship came in the form of Cressida
Bonas, an actress and model. Per the Mirror, the pair was introduced by Princess Eugenie
and dated from 2012 to 2014. Throughout their relationship, the two were spotted at parties,
premieres, ski resorts, theaters, and concerts. Bonas even accompanied Harry
to a royal charity event in 2014. The pair had a friendly breakup in April of that year.
In 2020, Bonas told The Daily Telegraph about the aftermath of the relationship, saying:
It seems that the two are still close, as, like Chelsy Davy,
Bonas received an invitation to her ex's wedding in 2018.
It may be hard for some of us to even remember a time before Will and Kate. However, before Prince
William met Kate Middleton at university, he had another pretty serious relationship. The prince
dated Jessica "Jecca" Craig while on his gap year in Kenya. Craig's family reportedly owns
a conservation ranch, which William visited after graduating from Eton. According to some sources,
William and Craig even had a "pretend engagement" while they were dating.
It appears that William has remained friends with Craig and her family. In fact, The Telegraph
spotted William spending time with all of them in 2010, just months before his engagement to
Kate. William also attended Craig's wedding in 2016 — without Kate and his young son George.
Before he dated and married Lady Diana Spencer,
King Charles actually dated her older sister, Sarah Spencer. The pair met during a royal
party in the '70s. As Sarah Bradford wrote in "Diana: Finally, the Complete Story":
The couple spent plenty of time together,
with Sarah even accompanying Charles to royal events and going on a skiing holiday with him.
The relationship came crashing to an end after one year. Most
sources believe that the affair ended when Sarah made some inappropriate comments to
the press. In one infamous interview with Woman's Own magazine, she said:
When Charles later married her younger sister, Sarah remained lighthearted, telling The Guardian:
Before Princess Diana and Lady Sarah Spencer, there was Lady Jane Wellesley. The pair dated
between 1973 and ‘74. The Washington Post claimed that she was Charles' first real
love. According to the Tatler, many people thought she and Prince Charles might end
up marrying. In fact, after consistent media attention, she reportedly once said:
By 1978, things between the couple seemed to
be officially over. As Time reported at the time, they still remained friendly.
Princess Anne once had a romance with Andrew Parker-Bowles, who went
on to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles, now King Charles' queen consort.
According to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith,
Parker-Bowles and Anne did indeed have an affair. As she told Vanity Fair,
the pair dated in the early '70s after meeting at the Royal Ascot and bonding over horses.
So, why didn't things work out? As a Catholic, it seems Parker-Bowles was
never seen as a viable husband. Their romance fizzled, but they remained in the same circles
and stayed friends. They've even been spotted chatting at numerous events over the years.
According to the Evening Standard,
Princess Margaret first met Peter Townsend when she was a teenager,
and the pair reconnected when she was 22. Townsend soon fell in love. He reportedly once wrote:
It also seems that the queen stopped her sister from marrying Townsend until
she was 25. After that, Margaret sought the approval of the British Parliament,
which declared that Margaret would need to give up her title and status
if she married him. At that point, the couple finally decided to call it quits.
In 1999, Prince Edward married his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex. But before he tied the knot,
he did have one particularly infamous relationship with none other than the actor Ruthie Henshall,
known for her numerous stage roles and the reality show "I'm a Celebrity." Henshall
revealed a few details about their relationship during one episode of the reality show.
"Lovely bloke. And I genuinely fell in love with him."
Apparently, the pair met while Edward was working
at a theater where she was starring in "A Star Is Born."
"And he said to me, 'Would you like to
come to mine and watch the film of 'A Star Is Born' with me and you can have some dinner?'"
The pair went on to date for two years, but eventually called it quits when Henshall
realized she could never continue her on-stage career while married to a prince.
After her ill-fated romance with Peter Townsend,
Princess Margaret eventually settled down with photographer Antony Armstong-Jones.
The pair met at a dinner party and fell in love after Armstong-Jones was commissioned
to take her portrait. But according to History Extra, Margaret was not the only woman in his
life at the time, as the photographer had also been romantically involved with several others.
In 1959, the pair became engaged. Margaret reportedly later told a Parliament member:
After tying the knot in 1960, their marriage began to crumble as a result
of rumored infidelities on both sides. By 1978, they were officially divorced.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson married in 1986 and had two children. They were forced
to spend months apart, however, which soon led to problems. In 1992, Ferguson was spotted by
paparazzi with her financial advisor John Bryan — some infamous images showed him kissing her toes.
Tensions also arose from Ferguson wanting to have a career of her own. She told Harper's Bazaar:
By 1996, the pair's divorce was finalized.
In spite of their divorce, and the allegations of sexual assault against Andrew,
the pair appear to be on better terms than ever. As Ferguson told The Telegraph in 2021:
Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips first met in 1968 at a horse-riding event in Mexico,
where they quickly bonded over their love of the animals, via People. By 1973,
the pair was engaged. It seems that at the time, Anne took a practical rather than a romantic
approach to the institution of marriage. When asked by one reporter if their marriage would
be able to endure the demands and strain of her high-visibility role, she replied:
Things started to turn sour after the birth of their second child, Zara,
in 1981. According to the Express, they spent more and more time apart and even
slept in separate hotel rooms while traveling. As the Tatler reported,
Phillips had an affair and fathered a child while still married to Anne,
while Anne allegedly had a few affairs of her own. In 1992, the couple was finally granted a divorce.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana are, without a doubt,
the most famous ill-fated royal couple in recent history. Most of us already know their story:
Diana met the prince when she was a teenager. After a very brief courtship, Charles proposed
and Diana accepted. But even before they tied the knot, the cracks had begun to show.
In their now infamous engagement interview, the couple was asked if they were in love.
"Whatever in love means."
Their relationship struggled under numerous pressures: Their age gap soon began to show,
Diana developed a severe eating disorder, and Charles was rumored to be jealous of her fame.
Eventually, both reportedly had affairs. By 1992, the pair had officially separated.
After their divorce, the couple managed to find common ground. In the biography "The
Diana Chronicles," Tina Brown wrote about how things were "definitely calming down," saying: