Tragic Details About Prince Harry's Ex Cressida Bonas

From the outside, Cressida Bonas' life seems like a rom-com dream. Bonas was in a relationship with one of the then most eligible bachelors in the world, Prince Harry. She's enjoyed an impressive acting career and was a top model who's appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. She moved on from the prince and married high-society real estate associate and surveyor Harry Wentworth-Stanley in 2022, and the couple welcomed a son two years later to become one of the most adorable families in the United Kingdom.

Although she's lived a quieter life since she split with Harry, sadly, the truth about Bonas is that her life hasn't been easy. The "Touchdown" star has dealt with several heartbreaking tragedies over the years, including family deaths, mental health struggles, and infertility issues. Bonas hasn't been afraid to speak out and help others going through times either, and she's repeatedly had to be strong when times seem toughest.

Cressida Bonas has been open about her mental health journey, including her experience with anxiety and compulsive behavior. In 2020, she told The Standard, "I have anxious thoughts, and I was afraid of failure." To help combat her feelings, she began journaling. That inspired her to create the "Fear Itself" podcast, where she encourages others to speak about their own fears.

Bonas spoke more about the anxiety she's felt most of her life on "Owning It: An Anxiety Podcast" in 2021, admitting she initially didn't want to tell anyone about it. "I really doubt myself," she said, explaining her anxiety grew stronger in her teen years and early 20s and stopped her from pursuing a lot of opportunities. But that came with its own guilt. "When these thoughts come in that are very destructive thoughts, you think ... 'I'm not allowed to feel this because I'm so fortunate and so lucky,'" she said. 

Bonas also recalled that she lived in constant fear of her mom dying when she was a child, which led to her compulsive behavior. "I just would catastrophize everything," she said. "Every night ... I would get out of bed and I'd switch the light on three times. In my head, my thought was [if I didn't] something would happen to my mom." Fortunately, Bonas' worrying habit subsided, but she shared she still deals with anxious thoughts (though seems to be aware that embracing her anxiety could be key to managing it).

Cressida Bonas has lost multiple close family members under tragic circumstances, including her aunt Charlotte. Bonas alluded to how difficult she found Charlotte's passing in a 2021 Instagram post in celebration of what would have been her birthday. She posted a stunning black-and-white photo and spoke about the grief she still felt in the caption. "I absolutely worshiped her and I miss her every day," Bonas told her followers. "She taught me kindness, courage and how much strength there is in gentleness. She was golden in every way." Bonas had previously paid tribute to Charlotte on Instagram in 2019, writing, "The kindest of hearts who taught me so much. Gone too soon, but never forgotten. I will carry her in my heart."

In November 2021, the actor and model spoke to The Spectator about her relationship with Charlotte. "[She] had a profound influence on my life. A second mother, a friend, and someone who was always there," she said. Bonas explained that her aunt passed away after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, and suggested her death was unexpected. "It slipped into our lives with no warning and ripped her away from us," Bonas wrote. 

The "White House Farm" actor also opened up about her attempts to contact her late aunt on the other side but decided to stop after finding she wasn't getting the results she wanted. Instead, she's focused on remembering Charlotte the way she was. "There will always be a relationship between the living and the dead. Through the love you have for that person who left, through the memories that flash up or seeing them in daily things, in something they would have loved, a family member's face, or hearing a song that conjures them up from the grave," Bonas touchingly wrote.

Cressida Bonas lost her former stepdad to suicide in January 2014. An inquest found that Christopher Shaw, who was married to Bonas' mom Lady Mary Gaye Curzon for four years before they split in 2000, took his own life after discovering he had an incurable kidney disease. A source told The Sun that Shaw and Bonas spent a lot of time together when she was younger, noting, "Christopher was Cressida's father figure in her formative years." Bonas didn't appear to speak publicly about Shaw's passing but was spotted dressed in black at his funeral.

The year 2014 was very tough for Bonas, as she split with Prince Harry just three months after Shaw's death. "It's very sad that they have decided to split. It's very amicable, but they have decided to go their separate ways," a source told Us Weekly. However, E! News' insider told a different story. They claimed things weren't so amicable and Harry ended things. "As much as they had fun together, she was becoming too jealous when Harry did enjoy nights out with friends. She was constantly worrying about whether he was cheating," they said. The string of hard times clearly took its toll on Bonas, who took compassionate leave from her job shortly after the break-up news hit the headlines.

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Cressida Bonas has spoken frankly about the difficult road she and her husband Harry Wentworth-Stanley travelled to become parents. The star told The Times in December 2022 that she struggled with fertility, both mentally and physically. "My obsession with getting pregnant was overwhelming," she said, revealing professionals told her there was no explanation why they couldn't conceive — which only made the process tougher. The couple first tried IUI (also known as artificial insemination) unsuccessfully, which only heightened Bonas' pregnancy fixation. "I considered everything I ate and drank — no sugar, gluten, alcohol, or caffeine. I'd wake up at 3 a.m. worrying about my dairy intake. I was tired and hungry," she recalled.

The couple later tried IVF (which can also affect mental health) and, thankfully, Prince Harry's ex shared happy family news in July 2022 when she confirmed she was pregnant with a son who was born four months later. After becoming a mom, Bonas regretted being so hard on herself and her body. "Looking back on those two long years of trying to conceive, I wish I had been kinder to myself and understood that I didn't need fixing," she shared.

Bonas posted a photo of her The Times interview on Instagram that month and thanked her fans in the caption. "I'm so grateful to those [who] shared their stories with me, it helped me to feel less alone and make sense of the many confusing thoughts around infertility," she wrote.

In August 2024, Cressida Bonas went through one of the toughest times in her life when she lost her beloved half-sister Pandora Cooper-Key. The star confirmed her sibling's passing on Instagram, sharing touching photos taken over the years alongside a heartfelt caption. "One day, I'll remember you said in one of your final days, 'I don't know what all the fuss is about, I ain't going nowhere...' And I'll realize, I never had to look for you at all. You were right here beside me all along, because, my darling sister, my heart is forever tied to yours," she wrote in part.

Cooper-Key was 51 at the time of her death and had first been diagnosed with cancer two decades earlier. She told Mail Online five months earlier that doctors had found an inoperable brain tumor and she had already planned her funeral. "In the last few months, I probably have been the closest to feeling depressed than I've ever been and I'm not a depressive person. That's been quite scary," Cooper-Key heartbreakingly shared.

Bonas paid further tribute to her late sister in a candid piece for The Sunday Times in November 2024. She shared a photo of the article on Instagram and wrote in the caption about her immense love for her late sister. "Life will never be the same without her, and sometimes it feels like she's just gone on holiday, until I realise she's not coming back," Bonas wrote. "... I hold onto the memories and the many things she taught me. I miss her. She was simply the best."