Long before Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle, many wondered whether he would marry his longtime girlfriend Chelsy Davy. Of course, that never happened, and some of the reasons why the young lovers parted were tragic, to say the least. However, splitting from Harry isn’t the only tragedy Davy has endured.
We’ll start with Davy’s childhood. Though Harry’s ex-girlfriend has often spoken fondly of her upbringing in Zimbabwe, she’s also spoken about aspects of her childhood being cut short as a result of civil unrest in the country. Speaking to The Times about how land reform affected her family, she shared that both her parents’ and her grandmother’s farms had been seized. “It was a tough, tough time,” she told the outlet. Though her father maintained some assets (more on that later), she added that many of the people she knew began leaving the country, and that she started worrying about her education when she noticed a number of teachers leaving, too. She convinced her parents to send her to the U.K. for the rest of her schooling, and she remained there for her high school years.
Of course, things at the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College and later Stowe School were incredibly different from what Davy had grown up with, and she told The Times that she’d stood out when she first arrived. “People were like: ‘Who is this weirdo from Zimbabwe?'” she recounted, adding that growing up on a game farm, she hadn’t matured in quite the same way as many of her peers. “I was this innocent, stunted child who’d been brought up in the bush, a little kid. Let me tell you, 14-year-olds in England are not little kids,” she said. Even so, she soon clicked with her new schoolmates, and she told the outlet, “I made some fabulous friends.”
Chelsy Davy was treated cruelly by the press (shocker)
Though Chelsy Davy had briefly met Prince Harry during her time in the U.K., it was only when he was on his gap year in Lesotho and she was studying at the University of Cape Town that they became an item. He reached out to her while he was in Cape Town, and the rest of history. However, as everyone knows, that wasn’t the end of the story.
Sadly for Chelsy, any hopes of a fairytale romance were quickly quashed by the press, which didn’t hold back in its treatment of her. For one, The Times published a piece referring to the university student and her friend group as “Afro-trash.” The outlet also drew very unkind comparisons between Chelsy’s family and that of Prince William’s rumored ex-girlfriend Jecca Craig. In particular, they painted an idyllic (read: stereotype-laden) picture of the Craigs’ estate in Kenya, emphasizing the fact that they were old money, while scoffing at Chelsy’s Zimbabwean father, Charles Davy, being self-made. That still wasn’t all, though. The outlet also slammed the Davy family vacation home in Mozambique, where Harry was said to have been introduced Chelsy’s parents, referring to their accommodation for the trip as “a hotel frequented by the African equivalent of ‘Footballers’ Wives.'”
Another dig The Times made in its hit piece? That Chelsy was an aspiring model with a tacky portfolio who desperately wanted to be famous. Many years later, Chelsy debunked that in no uncertain terms. In an interview of her own with the very same outlet, Chelsy clarified that she’d always hated being photographed. As such, she said of the modeling claims, “That’s a terrible fiction.” Slow clap for Chelsy.
Her family was put under a microscope for their connections
Unfortunately for Chelsy Davy, her relationship with Prince Harry also prompted a ton of scrutiny over her family’s business dealings. As some will recall, her father was called out for his links to late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. And, while it does seem as though Charles Davy had connections to Mugabe’s administration, a number of relatives claimed that his business relationship with the country’s then-Minister of Policy Implementation, Webster Shamu, had been intentionally sensationalized by the press.
As a brief overview, many eyebrows were raised in the early aughts when it seemed as though Charles Davy still had control of some of his land while most white Zimbabweans had ceded theirs to the state. The Times made note of this, though it included a quote from his brother confirming that Charles had lost some of his farms. “It’s not as if he is untouchable,” Vince Davy had said. A few years on, Charles’ brother-in-law — Chelsy’s mother’s brother — expanded some more. Speaking to Daily Mail in 2010, Ian Donald explained that Charles had retained some of his land purely because it was owned by American investors. “It was more to do with the government’s decision that it was too risky to take those American-linked assets,” Donald said. However, he reiterated, “His parts of the properties were confiscated.”
Ins and outs aside, there’s no question that Chelsy herself had nothing to do with her father’s business. Even so, many questioned if she was a suitable pick for the royal family because of it. Evidently, the situation became dire enough that Charles felt compelled to speak out, and in 2005, he implored The Telegraph to “at least write the truth and limit the adverse impact of all these untruths on my children.”
Wedding speculation started early on in Chelsy Davy’s relationship with Prince Harry
If cruel hit pieces and massive scandals revolving around her family weren’t enough for a then-university student to go through, Chelsy Davy also had another major pressure to contend with. Right from the moment her relationship with Prince Harry went public, marriage speculation began.
Of course, some of that speculation was helped along by Chelsy’s uncle Paul Davy, who told the Daily Mail, “Yes, they want to marry.” It’s possible that that had been an off-the-cuff comment and that he’d realized immediately after saying it that it could create massive media furore, as in the same interview, he made a point of noting that even though the couple was deeply in love, that didn’t mean Harry was about to pop the question. Speaking of their being in Bazaruto, he shared, “I wouldn’t say [an engagement is] the purpose they are in Mozambique. They are on holiday there.”
A few days later, Paul spoke with The Mail on Sunday, though we doubt his intentions were like those of Kate Middleton’s own shady uncle, Gary Goldsmith. Rather, it’s likely his comments were a combination of damage control and wanting to speak out against everything that had been said about the family. In addition to telling the outlet his niece and the prince had only been together for a few months, he also pointed out that Davy being Zimbabwean would probably be an issue for the royal family and that it was unlikely Harry would ever get to see where she’d grown up. “Do you honestly believe that the British government will let Harry come to this country? They won’t,” he said. Unfortunately, regardless of the intent, it all added to even greater media attention on Harry and Chelsy.
She was portrayed as a party girl
While much of what was written about Chelsy Davy during her relationship with Prince Harry revolved around who her family was and where she was from, another detail that caused speculation over her suitability for the then-twenty-something royal was the fact that she liked to party. Keep in mind, Davy was a 19-year-old university student when the concerns first arose.
After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town, Davy studied law at Leeds University. And, during her years-long on-and-off relationship with Harry, she also started working at London law firm Allen & Overy. Speaking to The Times, she shared that during the early years of her career, she worked almost nonstop. “Back-to-back deals, working till 4.a.m., conference call at 8. We wouldn’t even go home, just sleep in the office. They have these tiny dorm rooms,” she recounted. However, her career progression wasn’t what made the news. “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,” she shared.
It’s worth noting that Davy was very gracious while speaking of the way she’d been portrayed during that time of her life. “They can be forgiven for not knowing I was working really hard, I didn’t shout about it,” she said. What’s more, she also joked that even though she was a higher achiever than she was given credit for at the time, she certainly did have a “work hard, play hard” mentality in her early 20s. “I did go out and party quite a lot,” she confessed.
Chelsy Davy hated being in the spotlight while dating Harry
It’s no secret that the real reason Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry broke up was the constant media scrutiny they faced. In fact, in the years since they parted ways, both Davy and Harry have spoken about just how much the constant attention they got affected them.
Speaking to The Times, Davy said of being hounded by paparazzi, “It was so full-on: crazy and scary and uncomfortable. I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldn’t cope.” She added that the fact that it was all happening in her late teens and early twenties only made things worse. “I was trying to be a normal kid and it was horrible,” she recounted. She also shared that it had become impossible to focus on her career while she was being constantly followed, and that as soon as she and Harry broke up, she jetted back to Zimbabwe.
As for what Harry has said about the toll the paparazzi and press had on his relationship with Davy, he wrote in “Spare” that they had frank discussions over whether they could have a future together. Putting into perspective just how toxic the situation was, Harry wrote that he likened his fame to “a chronic illness, something to be managed.” Sadly (and unsurprisingly), Davy wasn’t overly keen on the idea. “She wasn’t sure she wanted to have a chronic illness,” he wrote. Ultimately, after a number of break-ups, they split for good and reportedly had an emotional talk the day before he wed Meghan Markle, agreeing that they were better apart. Davy has since moved on with husband Sam Cutmore-Scott.
Her travel business never recovered after Covid
As for what happened to Chelsy Davy after she and Prince Harry broke up for the last time, some may know that she decided to go into business. In particular, she started her very own ethical jewelry brand, Aya. In 2020, she told Tatler that the brand would be expanded into luxury tourism in Cape Town and Zambia, as well. However, in February 2025, the Daily Mail reported that she was closing down the travel side of things.
Sadly, timing played a big role in the closure of Aya Luxury Travel. Back in 2020, Davy poked fun at the situation in an interview with Spear’s, acknowledging, “I launched my travel company the week before lockdown. So, that’s great. I’m not going to lie — the travel hasn’t gone swimmingly so far.” Unfortunately, even though she hoped to see things turn around, Davy officially filed to dissolve the company in February 2025.
As for the jewelry side of things, that took a bit of a backseat during the Covid years as well, though Davy herself has hinted at welcoming her two kids being part of the reason why. Either way, in September 2024, she shared via Instagram that she was back with a new collection. “POV: it’s been three years and two babies since your last new collection, but you’re mega-excited to be back in the game,” she wrote beneath a smiley snap of herself. In January 2025, she gushed over the amount of support she’d received post-relaunch. “I am so excited for all that is to come in 2025 — stay tuned!” she posted. David has been through a lot over the years, but it’s safe to say she’s always been committed to carving out her own path.
