“Although they had a lot in common, she saw clearly that because they came from such different worlds, it could never have worked, especially as she valued her privacy and guarded it so carefully.”

Despite breaking up for the final time in 2010, Chelsy and Harry – whose relationship was closely followed by the media – remained friends, with Chelsy later attending his 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.

Two years before the wedding, she spoke to The Times about how she struggled to be in the limelight when dating the prince.

She said in the 2016 interview: “It was so full-on: crazy and scary and uncomfortable.

“I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldn’t cope. I was young, I was trying to be a normal kid and it was horrible.

“It was nuts. That’s also why I wanted to go back to Africa. Now it’s calm, now it’s fine.”