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Prince Harry’s first serious girlfriend was Chelsy Davy, followed by Cressida Bonas. The press at the time expected the Duke to marry British socialite Cressida, but their relationship in the spotlight was reportedly too intense for the young actress. Before his third and final relationship with Meghan, what was Harry like while in love with Chelsy and Cressida?
According to body language expert Judi James, the Duke of Sussex has learned a lot from his previous relationships and he was different in each one of them.
First came Chelsy Davy, who is now 36 years old.
Harry met businesswoman Chelsy in South Africa in 2004 and the couple were in an on-and-off relationship until 2010.
Judi claimed Harry was “relaxed” while with Chelsy, saying: “She seemed to bring out much more open and unguarded body language from the Prince, who looked happy to flirt and have fun in a way that suggests his highest levels of relaxation.”
There are several photos of Harry and Chelsy kissing in public, and Judi added that “this was the emphatically fun version of Harry, looking his most relaxed in all of the three big relationships”.
As for the Prince’s relationship with Cressida, 31, whom he met and began dating in 2012, this was described by Judi as “anxious and guarded”.
She continued: “With Cressida there were undeniable signs of tension and a rather more negative and anxious energy from Harry.
“In complete contrast to his more open and relaxed body language displays with Chelsy, both him and Cressida look self-protective in public, using barrier rituals like face-touching to suggest a wariness of any press interest or intrusion.
“Cressida’s signals of tension appear to have rubbed off on Harry who is now unsmiling and who prefers to use a hand to shield his face as he talks to her in a whisper, rather than adopting the much louder-looking and grinning communication style he had with Chelsy.
“His wariness is tangible and as his eyes appear to pick out the camera, we can see the beginnings of the kind of hard stare he often adopted when being snapped with Meghan.”
If Harry seemed his most relaxed with Chelsy and most anxious with Cressida, he looked his “most smitten” with Meghan, according to Judi.
The body language also claimed Harry has tried to “mimic” Meghan’s “more grown up approach to life”.
She said: “Harry looked at his most smitten when he was dating Meghan and this time his love for her seemed to bring about a desire to mimic her rather more grown-up approach to life.
“He looked happy and besotted, but there were none of the constantly playful rituals that we saw with Chelsy.”
Judi added: “Harry grew up quickly during his relationship with Meghan.
“Although we saw many of the same anxiety behaviours and wariness of the press attention that we saw with Cressida, his look of love and his much more relaxed body language now he is a husband and father of two, suggest he focused on these states as a replacement for the fun, boyish and very playful version of himself.”
