No doubt proud of their matchmaking skills, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie invited Cressy and Harry to join them on a skiing trip with their parents, Andrew and Fergie. The annual pilgrimage to the exclusive Swiss resort of Verbier was something Fergie and her ex-husband rarely missed. Ever since their divorce more than two decades ago, the Duke and Duchess of York have remained close. Unlike many divorced couples, they regularly holiday together, and when she is in the UK the duchess is happy to stay at the family home in Windsor Great Park.
It may have been a tame night by Harry’s standards, but when he and Cressy joined the Yorks for a meal to celebrate his uncle’s fifty-second birthday the intensity of their feelings for each other was unmistakable. Sitting in the swanky Pot Luck Club restaurant as they swilled champagne and tucked into medium rare steaks, Harry and Cressy appeared oblivious to the other diners. At one point Cressy jumped onto his knee and the pair started kissing, looking to one witness ‘like love-struck teenagers in the back row of a cinema’. It was only a few weeks after Harry had returned from his second tour of Afghanistan and the public show of affection was seen as proof of how close they had become. Neither seemed in the slightest bit bothered that their canoodling was being watched by nearly all of the forty or so other people eating in the club that night. Nor did it seem to make the slightest bit of difference to the couple that they were on a table right next to where Harry’s uncle was sipping mineral water with his ex-wife.
A fellow diner revealed afterwards: ‘They were all in good spirits but by the end of the meal Harry’s girlfriend seemed to have shed any inhibitions. She jumped onto his lap and the pair started kissing like love-struck teenagers in the back of the cinema. They were all over each other and it was tempting to shout out “Get a room”. Clearly they are at that stage in the relationship where they simply can’t keep their hands off each other. It was a rather surreal thing to witness, someone as famous as Prince Harry snogging in the side of a restaurant. They didn’t seem to care that people were watching, not even Prince Andrew, who was sitting just a couple of feet away.’
Harry’s public show of affection during that trip to the Alps didn’t stop there. The following day as the couple waited for the rest of their group to step off a ski lift, he threw his arms around Cressy and they once again started to kiss. The romantic moment, which was caught by a French freelance photographer, filled the pages of newspapers back home. Once again it seemed Harry had fallen deeply in love and he didn’t care who knew.
In reality the Royals rarely make such public gestures without knowing exactly how they will be interpreted. There is no way that Harry of all people would have publicly embraced his girlfriend on the busy Swiss slopes without expecting it to be reported. Verbier, like many of the posh Alpine resorts, is swarming with paparazzi who make a living out of selling their pictures of celebrities on the slopes. By making such a public show of affection towards Cressy that day, Harry knew he was making a statement. He was in love and felt as though he had finally banished the ghost of his old flame Chelsy. The pictures were similar to those taken of William and Kate when they ski’d together in Switzerland in 2008. Those pictures too had been seen as a statement, following reports that William had been pictured with a girl in a nightclub just a few weeks before.
There was no doubt that Harry’s feelings for Cressy were both intense and genuine, as they spent the following weeks and months together whenever he was off-duty with the Army. The sight of Cressy by Harry’s side began to fuel speculation that he might have met ‘the one’. They were pictured watching an England rugby match at Twickenham, and the occasional photo of them emerged during nights out in London. But there was one event which really sparked the frenzy of speculation that, maybe, just maybe, an engagement was on the cards.
In March Harry persuaded his girlfriend to take the next leap in their relationship, inviting her to join him for the first time on an official engagement. In the Royal world, this gesture is always seen as a landmark for any boyfriend or girlfriend. When Kate attended William’s passing out parade at Sandhurst, for example, it was greeted as a sign of what was to come.
So when Cressida arrived at Wembley Arena with her chums to watch her other half launch the young people’s charity event, WE Day UK, it was like a red rag to a bull for the papers. To the delight of Royal watchers, Harry was even seen kissing his girlfriend at one point as they sat alongside 12,000 young people for a music concert. Surely, it seemed, with such an open display of affection during what was after all an official – if slightly unusual – engagement for the prince, the couple are trying to tell us something?
In the weeks that followed the papers in the UK and gossip sites across the Atlantic were full of predictions that the young lovebirds were on the verge of making an announcement. One paper even went as far as to claim Harry and Cressy were planning an ‘engagement summit’ with other senior Royals.
In July Harry was spotted with Cressy at the Glastonbury music festival, which did little to dispel the rumours. Yet Cressy’s close friends had already begun to sense that behind the scenes things were not quite as rosy as they seemed. The reality was that the more Harry and Cressy got to know each other, the less they found they had in common. Harry is a man of simple pleasures, while there was much more to the party-loving Cressy than met the eye.
‘In the early days of their relationship, Harry and Cressy were very physical and she certainly felt she had been swept off her feet,’ explained one of Cressy’s close friends. ‘Harry was very attentive, was always checking she was OK and in many ways appeared perfect boyfriend material. But after a few months it became increasingly clear that they didn’t actually have that much in common. On paper Cressy may have ticked all the right boxes, but in reality they were not actually that suited. They got on very well, but Cressy became increasingly frustrated that Harry seemed to show no interest in some of the things that were close to her heart.
‘Cressy is very passionate about art and culture. She is an avid collector and has been brought up to appreciate art and culture, it is incredibly important to her. But Harry would never be able to understand this. He is a people person, great fun and very outgoing. There is a deeper side to Cressy. She is actually a very shy, gentle person and this just didn’t click with Harry.
‘As the papers speculated about their engagement, deep down Cressy knew that the relationship had run its course. Yes, there was the pressure of being in the spotlight which was a constant frustration to both of them. But it went further than that. They just didn’t have enough in common to make the relationship last.’
The source said it was very hard for Cressy to break things off with Harry and revealed that she began to notice he was becoming needy. She added: ‘When they went to Glastonbury together you could see how different they were. Harry wore a trilby hat and suede shoes, while Cressy relaxed in a pair of dungarees and a bright blue hat. She was in her element at the festival but, no matter how hard he tried, Harry just looked out of place.’
Within a month of their being seen together at the event in Wembley, an unnamed palace source confirmed the split: ‘It is very sad that they have decided to split. It’s very amicable but they have decided to go their separate ways.’
It has since been claimed that the pressure of being in the media spotlight put the final nail in the coffin for Harry and Cressy. The Royal author Ingrid Seward, who is also a long-term friend of Cressy’s mother, revealed how the 25-year-old struggled to cope with being spotted in the street by strangers. Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, Mrs Seward confirmed Miss Bonas told friends she split from the prince after two years having been faced with a barrage of negative comments whenever they went out.
‘She just said it was awful because every time she walked down the street she could hear people criticizing her,’ Mrs Seward said. ‘They would whip out their phones and take photos of her. They’d say “Oh, look at her hair”, “Oh, look at her clothes, look at her boots, she hasn’t
got her laces done up.” I mean this is just a normal, pretty girl and she just couldn’t take it. She just thought “Why are they getting at me?”’
According to Mrs Seward, Cressy was also deeply upset by some of the comments made about her on social media. For someone who is surprisingly timid by nature, the experience of being trolled is not easily ignored.
There was at least one occasion when Cressy became very frightened because she felt she was being followed. Driving alone, she was convinced someone was following her. By the time she managed to get home, Cressy was so upset she phoned Harry in tears, asking for his help. Although it was never entirely clear whether someone was on her tail, the incident enraged Harry, who felt helpless to keep her safe.
Once again it seemed the pressure of being in the spotlight had contributed to Harry’s relationship failing. In an age when social media trolls feel they can write what they like about someone with impunity, the pressure on a high-profile Royal romance appears to be greater than ever. This would not be the first time the issue would frustrate Harry, but it does help to explain his reaction some years later when yet another relationship came out into the public eye.
CHAPTER 19
THE FIRST SOLO TOUR
They were two of the most famous faces in the world, the rock and roll Royal in lane three and the fastest man on earth in lane five. This was to be a photocall with a difference and, for the pack of travelling Royal reporters, one they would never forget. As the unmistakable six-foot-five inch frame of Usain Bolt carefully unzipped his tracksuit top, his opponent seized his chance and made a dash for it.
Prince Harry didn’t even bother trying to remove his gold, green and black outfit, so keen was he to pin his ears back and sprint to the finish line. By the time the Olympic champion realized he had been outsmarted, it was too late even for him to catch up. As the cameras rolled, Harry crossed the finish line first before jokingly pulling his opponent’s famous lightning bolt pose.
It was a very amusing, if slightly dubious victory but it did the trick. The footage of Harry and Bolt racing each other at the track bearing the Jamaican legend’s name was shown on news bulletins all over the world.
After just about everyone watching had stopped laughing at what they had just witnessed, Harry confessed that he had done it for a bet. When he told one of his close friends that he would be going head to head with the fastest man on earth, he had jokingly bet that he could win. What he hadn’t told his friend was how he had secretly planned to do it, by making a false start that would go down in the history books.
‘He’s a cheat,’ laughed Bolt when we spoke to him afterwards. ‘If he wants a re-match when I come to London for the Olympics in the summer, I will be ready for him.’
While the unforgettable footage filled a double page in almost all of the British papers the following day, it said more about Harry than just his willingness to cheat. No other members of his family could have pulled off a stunt like that without looking cringingly awkward.
He was, after all, in Jamaica to represent his grandmother the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year. The visit was a serious business for Harry, his first ever official solo overseas tour, and it was something he had to get right. Royals traditionally travel the world on behalf of the Queen and the British people. If they go well the rewards can be huge, boosting trade and scoring a goal for international diplomacy.
As ever, this tour had been carefully arranged by the palace and the British Foreign Office, and the itinerary had Harry visiting Belize and several Caribbean countries before jetting south to Brazil. Every conversation, handshake and official walkabout would be scrutinized to see if the so-called playboy prince would be able to pull off the serious business of representing his country.
Behind the scenes the men in grey suits at the palace were worried about whether Harry would be able to get through his first solo tour without controversy. The prince had of course, taken part in many set-piece visits and as a child had learned how to conduct himself in the limelight while joining his parents on all kinds of official engagements. And his track record was good. Harry has always been a major draw for coverage in the media.
Other members of his family could only dream of the level of interest shown when Harry took part in a public engagement. Whether he was playing polo on Governors Island in New York, or meeting patients outside a hospital in Cardiff, his set-piece events were always well attended and gained wide coverage.
But a full-scale overseas Royal tour is very different from brief photocalls and mini visits abroad. There is so much that can go wrong and as a general rule, if things can go pear-shaped, they often do. Royal tours have a habit of going badly, with the odd off-the-cuff remark, or poorly thought through picture opportunity backfiring in spectacular fashion. The list of incidents that have caused Royal blushes or even more serious diplomatic incidents is almost endless.
Prince Philip’s careless remarks have become the stuff of legend over the decades. The Queen’s husband wears the crown when it comes to putting his foot in it during overseas tours. In 1965, on seeing an exhibition of ‘primitive’ Ethiopian art, he muttered: ‘It looks like the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from her school art lessons.’ In 1984, when accepting a figurine from a woman during a visit to Kenya, he asked: ‘You are a woman, aren’t you?’ Two years later, while on an official visit to China, he told a group of British exchange students living in the city of Xian: ‘If you stay here much longer you’ll be slitty-eyed.’ In 1994, he asked an islander in the Cayman Islands: ‘Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?’ In 1998, he asked a British student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea: ‘You managed not to get eaten, then?’ And at a reception during a tour of Nigeria, the Duke remarked to the country’s then president, who had arrived in traditional dress: ‘You look like you’re ready for bed.’
Even Prince Charles has found himself in the centre of diplomatic storms from time to time, thanks to impromptu remarks made on official tours. In 2014, during a visit to Canada, Harry’s father met with a group who had lost relatives during the Holocaust. He was heard to liken Russian president Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler – comments which caused a diplomatic crisis for the Foreign Office at a time when relations with Russia were already strained to say the least.
And during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2007, the Prince of Wales caused a backlash after seemingly suggesting the global fast food chain McDonald’s should be banned. He was overheard talking to a nutritionist and asking her: ‘Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s, have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key.’
So it was with understandable trepidation that in early 2012 the Royal advisers agreed to send Harry on a full-scale overseas tour, where he would inevitably be joined by a press pack hungry to jump on any possible gaffe or ‘foot-in-mouth’ moment.
If the pressure on Harry was building, then comments made by the Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller just weeks before the prince was due to arrive did little to allay palace fears. The politician had been quoted as saying in January that year that she intended to remove the Queen as head of state and turn the country into a republic. It was feared that Harry might be well out of his depth during what threatened to be a very difficult and politically loaded visit for even the most seasoned Royal.
Then there was the possible elephant trap waiting for the 27-year-old during the last leg of his tour. He was due to represent British trade on a visit to Brazil in what would mark the conclusion of his first solo tour. It was feared that tensions between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands could lead to protests that would overshadow the visit.
Behind the scenes, palace and Foreign Office officials were getting increasingly anxious. One senior palace source said: ‘The prince’s first overseas solo tour would be a watershed moment in his life as a senior member of the Royal family. While we were confident that Harry’s charm and natural ability in front of the camera would win over the crowd
s, there was a real concern about how he would cope with the more sensitive aspects of the tour. Playing the joker is one thing, but dragging the country into a political or diplomatic dispute because of an off-the-cuff remark or badly timed joke was a real worry.
‘Before setting off, Harry was briefed at length by staff from the Foreign Office. He took these sessions very seriously and asked many questions about what possible pitfalls he needed to avoid. In many ways his inexperience was a help. He was clearly nervous about making any errors and wanted to know the ins and outs of every part of the visit. Perhaps in that way therefore he was even better prepared than other members of his family who have carried out dozens of official overseas tours over the years.
‘It was admirable that Harry seemed determined to make the visit work. At the time he was still in the throes of training to become an Army helicopter pilot, and that had been his focus in the months leading up to the tour. But because 2012 was a jubilee year, the pressure on the Royal family to visit as many parts of the world as possible and represent Her Majesty was immense. Harry was keen not to over-prepare and risk coming across as anything other than himself. He naturally agreed not to enter into any discussions about politics and instead decided to focus on what he does best, charming the people he meets with his down-to-earth approach.’
Despite the queue of advisers waiting to brief Harry ahead of his visit, it was not to them that he turned for the key advice. The source went on to reveal that on at least three separate occasions as the set date approached, the prince went to meet his grandmother for advice. The Queen, who after all came to the throne at a very young age, knew only too well how much pressure her grandson would be under. While the conversations between the monarch and Harry were private, there is little doubt that she would have told him to relax, to take the tour in his stride and to focus on being himself.
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