"I leaned in to give her a kiss, but my aim was off," the Duke of Sussex wrote of his first date with the English actress. "She turned. I tried again on the return trip, and we managed something like a graze." It obviously worked out after that, as Harry wrote. But then came the good news: Cressida was game to try again.
Borderline cringe writing aside, the prince's past relationship wasn't that far from his current marriage, which is rumored to be ending. As fans noticed, he does seem to have a type.
Even his ex, Chelsea Davy, was like Meghan in a way that she wasn't interested in his royal background. "Unlike so many people I knew, she seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, with propriety, with royalty," he said in his book.
But it's not just Harry. Cressida also seems to have a type. Did you know she ended up marrying another Harry? After getting past their awful first kiss, Cressida went on to help Harry with mourning his mom, Princess Diana, years after she died in a tragic car crash in 1997.
In his tell-all, the Archewell co-founder revealed that his then-girlfriend had just the right blend of curiosity and compassion to ask him about his mom's passing.
"He started to break down while answering her. She was the first person to help me across that barrier, to help me unleash the tears," he penned. "It was cathartic. It accelerated our bond and added an element rare in past relationships: immense gratitude."
But even though he feels indebted to her, their massive affection, deep and abiding loyalty, was not love everlasting. Like Meghan, the "White House Farm" star was also clear about not wanting to take on the stresses of being a royal. Said the prince, noting that she wasn't surprised when he broke things off with her, "These things had been on her mind as well," he said.
"I've learned so much from you, Cressida," she nodded. She looked at the floor, tears running down her cheeks. "Damn. I thought she helped me cry, and now I'm leaving her in tears."
Shortly before Harry's deployment in Afghanistan in late 2012, he was notably photographed naked in Las Vegas, which he admitted to have mortified the "Tulip Forever" alum.
"After hearing my careful and abashed explanation, she came to the same conclusion," he said of its impact on their relationship. "I'd been a dummy, not a debonair. I apologized for embarrassing her." But after his return, he noticed some distance and stiffness between them.
Due to the amicable split, Harry and Cressida remained on good terms. She even attended his 2018 nuptials to Meghan. So was Chelsea. She even wrote about the tricky experience in The Spectator last weekend. "I attended the royal wedding," she wrote in the blog.
"The invitation clearly stated that guests must wear hats. Yikes! I opted for a minimal feathered number and can only hope I got it right." She went on to explain her weird relationship with hats.
