This week, Prince Harry made headlines when he claimed that his seven-year relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy ended because of press interference. But the Duke also had another motive for breaking off his relationship with his childhood sweetheart.
He revealed that he was concerned that his grandmother wouldn’t approve of his love match in his bombshell novel Spare, which shocked royal watchers when it was preemptively published in January.
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In the book, Harry recalled a conversation with his friend Teej in which he was questioned about his ability to envision getting married to Chelsy, his then-girlfriend. \
“Teej asked directly if I could see myself getting married to Chels,” he wrote. She danced wildly, sipped tequila liberally, and wore short skirts and high boots, and I cherished all those characteristics about her. However, I couldn’t help but worry about Granny’s reaction to them. or the people of Britain. The last thing I wanted, though, was for Chels to adapt to them.
The Duke had a special bond with his ex-girlfriend, as he described her in his journal: “Unlike so many people I knew, she seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, with propriety, with royalty. She didn’t immediately start dressing herself in a crown, unlike so many girls I met. She appeared to be immune to the widespread condition known as throne syndrome.
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The Duke claims that the relationship suffered because Chelsy struggled with media intrusion from an early age, including while she was walking to and from her lectures at Leeds University, and not just because of his worries about his deceased grandmother.
Chels informed me that she had been followed by paps as she traveled to and from lectures; she asked me to take action. I promised her I’d try. I apologized to her on my behalf. She called me when she got back to Cape Town and complained that she was being followed everywhere, which was driving her crazy. She was unable to comprehend how they were able to know her whereabouts at all times. She was in a panic.
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When Harry provided testimony this week, these ideas were echoed. I advised Chelsy to treat it like a chronic illness, something to be managed, he wrote in reference to how he initially helped Chelsy deal with the media. She wasn’t certain, though, that she wanted to be chronically ill. I assured her that I did. Absolutely valid emotion. But if she wanted to share anything about my life, she would also need to share this. I lied, but you get used to it.
As he continued, “Odds were, the press would cost me another person I cared about.”
