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How Prince William and Kate Convinced Chelsy Davy And Prince Harry to Break Up

What really went wrong. - by Jessica Bosco
  • 13 Aug 2018

Cast your minds back to a time before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were the most talked-about couple in the world. Before Meghan, the woman in Harry’s life was Chelsy Davy. 

The couple were together on-and-off for seven years, however, when Chelsy went as Harry’s date to his brother Prince Williams royal wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011, that Chelsy was convinced once and for all that she could never marry Harry.

Chelsy Davy

Author Angela Levin wrote in her royal biography Harry: Conversations with the Prince, as reported by The Mirror, that “a friend revealed that seeing the enormity and pomp of the day convinced Chelsy that she and Harry had been right to separate. 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.”

Chelsy Davy

Chelsy Davy at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in 2011

Harry and Chelsy attempted one final reconciliation in 2015, with a secret trip to Africa to see if they could get back together, but it wasn’t meant to be and in June 2016 the South African-born beauty gave her first tell-all interview detailing how the attention that dating Harry made her feel. She described it as “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 told The Times. 

Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry

Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry in 2008.

Despite not working out romantically, Harry and Chelsy have remained friends over the years and she attended his wedding to Meghan Markle earlier this year.

The Prince reportedly even called his ex before the big day to put closure on their relationship.

Chelsy Davy

Chelsy Davy at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19.

"It was their final call, a parting call in which they both acknowledged Harry was moving on," the source told Vanity Fair. "Chelsy was quite emotional about it all, she was in tears and almost didn’t go to the wedding."

While Chelsy attended the wedding ceremony and lunchtime reception, she was not invited to the more exclusive evening party hosted at Frogmore House.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
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Jessica Bosco
Jessica Bosco
Jessica is marie claire and InStyle's Senior Digital Content Editor reporting on everything from celebrities to breaking news, lifestyle and all things royal (ahem, Meghan and Harry!).

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