Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend, with whom he was in a relationship for several years, has confessed about how dating him affected her life.
Being in a relationship with a member of the royal family is never easy. The media constantly chases that person, leaving no room for private moments between the member of the royal family and the one they are dating. It can be an intrusive presence in their lives and can have long-lasting effects as well. Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend, with whom he was in a relationship for several years, has confessed about how dating him affected her life.
Chelsy Davy, 35, was born in Zimbabwe into a rich family. Her mother, Beverley Donald, is former Miss Rhodesia. Davy studied in England, having attended a posh private school Cheltenham Ladies College, according to the Sun. She and Harry dated on and off from 2004 to 2011 after meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, during his gap year.
She was by his side when he attended Sandhurst and during his tour in Afghanistan. She was also at Prince Charles' 60th birthday, but, the sweet moments became harder to deal with eventually. She left for Africa in 2011 because being a member of the royal family was not going to be her cup of tea. However, the former couple continues to be "good friends."
Recently, she said that dating him was "scary and uncomfortable." The Zimbabwean-born businesswoman said that she was struggling when they dated. "Yes it was tough. It was so full-on: crazy scary and uncomfortable. 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," she said, as per The Times.
She was reportedly constantly being asked about their relationship. At the time, she was juggling a career in leverage law, which was tiring with “back-to-back deals, working till 4 am, conference calls at eight." Her pictures from outings to nightclubs also ended up splashed in the papers. If she found time to socialize with friends, it would end up biting her in the back.
“I like to enjoy life, but I like to achieve things and am very ambitious," she said. "They can be forgiven for not knowing I was working really hard, I didn't shout about it. If you go out once, they take a picture, but they don’t take a picture of you going to work every morning, it’s of you falling out of a nightclub at 4 am," added the businesswoman.
The prince was aware of how his girlfriend was affected by the frenzy around her. “I can see how upset she get," he said in an interview for his 21st birthday, according to Mirror. "My girlfriend is somebody who’s very special to me, and yes, she’s gone through some very hard times," he added.
Davy and Harry are still friends as she also attended his wedding to Meghan Markle, and had attended Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in 2011.
In her biography Harry: Life, Loss and Love, Katie Nicholl wrote that William's wedding “made Chelsy’s mind up once and for all... The life of a royal bride was not for her and she told Harry she could never make the sacrifices Kate had made."
Even Prince Harry had a hard time dealing with the press, he revealed in an Apple TV+ documentary. He confessed to using alcohol and drugs to hide his discomfort and anxiety. He said that he used to have panic attacks and using substances was the only way he could cope with the feelings of losing his mom. "I wasn’t in an environment where it was encouraged to talk about it either, that was sort of, like, squashed," he said, as per The Mirror.
References:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/4989820/chelsy-davy-prince-harry-girlfriend-royal-wedding/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/chelsy-davys-relationship-prince-harry-24187711
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L)MJ Kim (R)Ben Stansall
