The world met Chelsy Davy when she began dating Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in 2004. But what has she been up to since she and the prince called it quits?
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00:00The world met Chelsea Davy when she began dating Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in 2004. While
00:07their history is obviously in the past, here's what she's been up to since she and the prince
00:11called it quits. Chelsea Davy was born on October 13, 1985, to Beverly and Charles Davy in Zimbabwe.
00:20Her mom was a former model, while her dad was a wealthy Zimbabwean businessman.
00:25Growing up in Victoria Falls, which is home to one of the world's largest waterfalls,
00:29Davy told British magazine Tatler,
00:31"...I had an idyllic African childhood. I was always on the farm, running around barefoot
00:36with herds of buffalo and elephants crossing the road. There were often monkeys on the tennis
00:40court, jumping up and stealing the ball." In 2000, Zimbabwe experienced an internal crisis
00:46in which squatters began to seize white-owned farms, according to The Atlantic, and these
00:51actions were supported by President Mugabe's government. Things got worse after the World
00:55Bank and IMF cut aid to the country. Davy told Tatler,
00:59"...the problem was that when all that kicked off, people started leaving,
01:03so the schooling system was affected as well. All the good teachers left. From that aspect,
01:08I didn't feel like I was going to get a good education anywhere at all, so I came to school
01:12in England." Upon landing in England, Chelsea Davy reportedly felt unsure of herself.
01:18Zimbabwe was the only home she had ever known, and she had moved to a country where she hardly
01:23knew anyone. Even finding schools within England proved to be a challenge for her family.
01:28As Davy told Tatler,
01:30"...we were actually looking for schools in a 1980s guidebook,
01:33and so the first school we phoned had been closed for 10 years."
01:36Following the family's research, Davy enrolled at Cheltenham Ladies' College,
01:40where she studied alongside girls who she felt appeared more sophisticated than her.
01:45According to The Mirror, Davy said,
01:47"...I'd never worn makeup and suddenly everyone was in makeup. My eyes were like little saucers."
01:52Davy spent her formative teen years in England, and it quickly became a second home to her.
01:58According to Tatler, Davy splits her time between South Kensington in London and Cape Town,
02:03South Africa. Chelsea Davy values the importance of higher education,
02:07and she studied both economics and law during her university days.
02:11Following graduating from school in England, Davy moved to South Africa for college.
02:16From 2003 to 2006, she attended the University of Cape Town,
02:21where she earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree in politics, philosophy, and economics.
02:26According to royal expert Katie Nicholl's book William and Harry Behind the Palace Walls,
02:30Davy originally met Prince Harry when the two were introduced by a mutual friend in England.
02:36In 2004, Harry traveled to South Africa during his gap year, where he reconnected with Davy.
02:41The two reportedly started dating while Davy continued her studies at the University of Cape
02:46Town. When she graduated in 2007, Davy returned to the U.K., where she enrolled at the University
02:53of Leeds to pursue a postgraduate degree in law.
02:56So it was like, okay, let's do this."
02:58In September 2011, Chelsea Davy began working as an associate at international law firm
03:03Allen & Overy. She spent six months in Istanbul, Turkey, and as she told Tatler,
03:09That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Missy introduced me to some friends of
03:13hers there who scooped me up at weekends. When she returned to London for work,
03:17Davy enjoyed the nightlife like many young professionals. Unlike her peers,
03:21though, she was often followed by the paparazzi and photographed hitting the town.
03:25She told The Times,
03:27If you go out once, they take a picture. But not of you going to work every morning.
03:31It's of you falling out of a nightclub at 4 a.m."
03:33Davy further explained that she had never worked so hard in her life as she did during her time
03:38at the law firm. As she explained to The Times,
03:41I didn't realize how little sleep you can survive on. Back-to-back deals,
03:45working till 4 a.m., conference call at 8. We wouldn't even go home. Just sleep in the office.
03:51After three years at Allen & Overy, Chelsea Davy went back to school to study gemology
03:56in a one-year program at the Gemological Institute of America. According to Tatler,
04:00Chelsea learned to identify and categorize hundreds of rare stones.
04:04Davy went on to launch her own jewelry business in 2016, an ethical line called Aya. Davy's
04:10collection includes delicate earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets with colorful gemstones
04:16sourced and crafted in Africa. According to the site,
04:19Aya is an exclusive jewelry range that captures the beauty of Africa through
04:22its rare and precious gemstones and exquisite African craftsmanship,
04:27so that each piece of Aya jewelry embodies the unique charm of Africa.
04:31Whether they were on again or off again, Prince Harry and Chelsea Davy's relationship continued
04:36to make headlines long after it reportedly ended. Their relationship status dominated
04:41royal news for years, although they eventually broke up in 2009. While the couple was spotted
04:47out together during their relationship, and even after it was reportedly over,
04:51neither Harry nor Davy revealed much about their romance to the press. In fact, Prince
04:56Harry spoke about his feelings for Davy just once. According to former BBC Royal correspondent
05:01Peter Hunt, Harry said,
05:03"[Chelsea is very special. I would love to tell everyone how amazing she is. But,
05:07you know, that is my private life and once I start talking about that,
05:11then I've left my own self open. And if anyone asks me in the future,
05:14then they'll say, oh well hang on, you told them? But why aren't you telling us?"
05:19"'You ain't ever gonna find someone who's gonna jump into the position that it would hold.'"
05:24A defining moment for Chelsea Davy's relationship with Prince Harry came when
05:27she attended Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding as Harry's date in April 2011. Following
05:33the busy day, Davy reportedly joined Harry for the all-night disco at Buckingham Palace,
05:38where the two apparently spent most of the night dancing together. A source told the Daily Mail,
05:42"[They were all over each other, and Harry went back to Chelsea's flat before sneaking
05:46out and going home. They were very much an item, but who knows what will happen now."
05:51According to the Daily Mail's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl, Prince Harry had allegedly told
05:56friends he was hoping to get back with Chelsea Davy following his brother's wedding. However,
06:01that wasn't what she had in mind. According to a source, Davy enjoyed Prince William and
06:06Kate Middleton's wedding, but she didn't foresee getting married any time soon.
06:10Her focus was instead on her career. According to royal biographer Angela Levin's book Harry,
06:15Conversations with the Prince, Davy knew upon attending William and Middleton's ceremony that
06:19the royal lifestyle was not for her. Levin wrote,
06:22"[A friend revealed that seeing the enormity and pomp of the day
06:26convinced Chelsea that she and Harry had been right to separate."
06:30For Chelsea Davy, the intense public interest and scrutiny into her relationship with Prince
06:35Harry was just something she believed she'd never get used to. As a young woman, she didn't enjoy
06:40living her life in the spotlight, and told The Times,
06:43"[It was so full-on, crazy and scary and uncomfortable. I found it very difficult
06:48when it was bad. I couldn't cope. I was young, I was trying to be a normal kid and it was horrible."
06:54Davy has also complained about her reputation as a party girl and getting photographed leaving
06:59London's nightclubs in the early hours of the morning. In addition to criticizing her behavior,
07:04some even called Davy's name into question. According to British journalist Tom Sykes,
07:09Harry's ex would have had a difficult time following in Kate Middleton's footsteps.
07:14In an article for The Daily Beast, Sykes suggested that Prince Harry's girlfriend's
07:18name was originally intended to represent the class and sophistication of the London
07:23District of Chelsea. However, according to Sykes, it had apparently lost that connotation altogether,
07:29and he rudely wrote,
07:30"[It is almost completely impossible for the British public to imagine a princess called
07:34Chelsea. It's one of those things that shouldn't matter, but really, really does matter so much."
07:40When Chelsea Davy started planning the launch party for her jewelry line,
07:44Aya, she knew she wanted to make sure her close friend Princess Eugenie was on the guest list.
07:50When the two women reunited at the London event in 2016,
07:54Davy and the princess were reported as being ecstatic when they saw each other.
07:58According to Hello! magazine, despite the fact she split from Eugenie's cousin,
08:02Prince Harry, more than six years ago, Chelsea greeted her with a warm embrace and was beaming
08:07as they had a catch-up in front of the cameras. Davy and Eugenie's friendship has continued since
08:12then, and in October 2018, Davy was in attendance to support Princess Eugenie when she married Jack
08:19Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Both Chelsea Davy and Cressida Bonas,
08:26two of Prince Harry's ex-girlfriends, attended the prince's May 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.
08:31According to reports, though, Davy almost didn't attend the royal wedding.
08:36In the days leading up to the nuptials, Harry and Davy allegedly had an emotional talk over
08:41the phone. According to royal expert Katie Nicholl in Vanity Fair, a source revealed,
08:46"...it was their final call, a parting call in which they both acknowledged Harry was moving on."
08:51Chelsea was quite emotional about it all. She was in tears and almost didn't go to the wedding.
08:56"...I tried to warn you as much as possible."
08:58Davy also reportedly felt slighted that she was only invited to the ceremony and
09:02post-wedding reception at Windsor Castle, but not to the exclusive evening reception
09:07at Frogmore House. However, Davy didn't keep her invitation to the wedding a secret.
09:12Instead, she shared the news with all her close friends. And like many women who know they'll
09:16be seeing their exes, Davy made sure to spend time shopping for the perfect gown,
09:21deciding on a classic navy blue dress and matching fascinator.
09:25Considering that she was born in Zimbabwe, attended university in Cape Town,
09:30finished law school in England, and spent six months in Turkey for work,
09:34it's no secret that Chelsea Davy loves to travel and explore different parts of the world.
09:39A quick look at her Instagram account reveals snaps of Davy jet-setting all over the world,
09:44dining with friends in exotic places, and hitting the beach multiple times a year.
09:49In 2020, Davy decided to expand her jewelry company, Aya, into the luxury travel sector,
09:55and told Tatler,
09:56"...it's an organic progression from the jewelry. Africa is where I'm from,
10:00where my family is from, it's my heritage and I've always been interested in tourism
10:05and conservation."
10:06Her passion for travel and her experience of seeing the world will come in handy during
10:10her next business venture. As she told Tatler magazine,
10:14"...we want to be able to curate incredible trips for people,
10:17offering them a personalized, professional service, being there for them 24-7.
10:22I'm very knowledgeable about parts of Zambia and Cape Town."
10:25As they develop these exclusive excursions, Davy ensures that they'd never include anything
10:30on the trips that she or her team haven't experienced firsthand. She explained to Tatler,
10:36"...we want to curate the trip to fit with your definition of luxury."
10:40Having only done a handful of press interviews throughout her life,
10:44Chelsea Davy has made it clear that she's always valued her privacy. Having endured
10:48the relentless press attention that her relationship with Prince Harry garnered for
10:52more than five years, Davy seems to appreciate the quiet and calm she's since found.
10:57Royal biographer Angela Levin wrote in her book,
11:00Harry Conversations With The Prince,
11:02"...although they had a lot in common, she saw clearly that because they came from such
11:06different worlds, it could never have worked, especially as she valued her privacy and
11:11guarded it so carefully."
11:13Davy is instead happy to focus on her freedom, revealing in an interview with Tatler that she's
11:18content with the direction her life has taken her. She revealed,
11:21"...I'm very happy with where I am right now. I'm happy with everything. I'm doing something
11:26in Africa that I'm passionate about and I'm excited for what my vision is and what that
11:30will create. Everything is falling into place."