Prince Harry trial raises concerns about ex Chelsy Davy and illegal intrusion
Prince Harry’s court case alleging illegal intrusion by British tabloids has raised the question of what became of Chelsy Davy and if their relationship buckled under scrutiny.
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Whatever happened to Prince Harry’s first true love Chelsy Davy?
The glamorous long term tequila-loving ex girlfriend of the Duke of Sussex appeared in every British tabloid in the early 2000s, on his arm, kissing in the rugby stadium stands and scantily clad in bikinis on seemingly private holidays with her beau.
But as the former city lawyer’s relationship with Prince Harry becomes the focus of his case against Mirror Group Newspapers, who he accuses of phone hacking and illegal intrusion, the Zimbabwean has retreated into a quiet life away from press intrusion, having cited the “horror” of being the relentless focus of the paparazzi camera lens.
The South African-born daughter of safari farmer Charles and former Coca-Cola model Beverley has swapped the genuine love of her life for a “normal” life with hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott, giving birth two years ago to her first child Leo – with hardly anyone outside her circle even knowing she was pregnant – or, even, who the father was.
It took her four months after the birth to share pictures of baby Leo on Instagram.
It is not altogether surprising, given the jewellery designer has remained resolutely private.
She was one of the world’s most known faces from 2004-2011, where she dated Harry on and off, during which time she found the scrutiny of the British press near impossible to handle.
“I found it tough,” she said in an interview with The Times newspaper in 2016. “It’s not something you get used to.”
“I think we will always be good friends,” she said diplomatically.
Indeed Chelsy has remained friends with the Duke, even attended his wedding to Suits actor Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018. Her first public appearance in years sent press flash bulbs popping.
Prince Harry and Chelsy were just teenagers when they met. Chelsy grew up on a game park in Victoria Falls managed by her father. There she enjoyed a liberal life, padding around barefoot with herds of buffalo and contending with monkeys as they tried to steal rogue balls on the tennis courts.
But when Robert Mugabe came into power with his land reform program, her father was forced to relinquish his arable land and their family home was destroyed. At the age of 14, Chelsy realised her limited educational prospects at home and begged her parents to let her leave and go to boarding school in England. They agreed and settled on Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Stowe for sixth form. It was here where she met Prince Harry.
They were just friends at first. Chelsy hated the British climate and returned to her beloved Africa for the University of Cape Town to carry on her education.
When Prince Harry arrived in the city on his gap year, he called her, igniting the beginning of his longest relationship to date.
After Cape Town, Chelsy returned to Britain for a two-year law degree at Leeds University – and, undoubtedly, to be closer to Harry.
They were an ‘it couple’, part of the ‘glossy posse’ with Chelsy hailed as the liberal, party-loving, sexy girlfriend, different from the prim English types he had previously chosen.
She was papped falling out of London taxis and cheering him on at polo matches, wearing a mini skirt the queen would have gasped at, and a permanent grin.
Their circle of friends included former nightclub manager Guy Pelly, Catherine Middleton’s friend Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Old Etonian Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, one of Harry’s closest childhood friends.
The young couple holidayed in South Africa with her family, and she was invited to Prince Charles’ 60th birthday. It was Chelsy who accompanied Harry to Diana’s memorial concert in London in 2007.
But while they were very much in love, cracks were beginning to show. As a solicitor for the ‘magic circle’ law firm Allen & Overy, Chelsy worked hard and partied harder, but unsurprisingly it was only the takes about her drunken nights that made the papers.
“Yes it was tough. It was so full-on: crazy scary and uncomfortable,” she has said.
“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.
“She became the object of obsession, everyone wanted to know everything about Chelsy, who her parents were, her worth, her friends, her ex boyfriends,” said royal journalist and author Robert Jobson.
“It was hard for her to want to remain in that circle.”
A deeply private person, Chelsy returned to Zimbabwe before facing London again. She lives a quiet existence running her own jewellery brand Aya in the smart enclaves of Chelsea and South Kensington, but away from the posh friends of Harry. She quit her law job after reporters kept phoning the company to speak to her.
Since Harry, Chelsy kept her subsequent romantic liaisons under wraps. She split from television producer James Marshall in 2018.
In 2020 she told Tatler there was a special person in her life, but refused to divulge his name. “Yes, there is someone, and I am quite taken by this one, but it’s very new and I don’t want to say too much,” she said.
It is reported she now lives in a four-storey Victorian town house in Chiswick in West London with Cutmore-Scott.
But with Chelsy, who keeps her cards very close to her chest, it is difficult to know precisely what she’s up to now.
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Originally published as Prince Harry trial raises concerns about ex Chelsy Davy and illegal intrusion
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