Prince Harry is currently in Antarctica, leading a crew of British wounded warriors to the South Pole. Dominic West is leading a crew of Commonwealth warriors and Alexander Skarsgard is somewhere, leading the American crew. I think it’s fishy that we don’t have any photos of Alex. I’m actually wondering if Alex hasn’t separated himself and his Americans from the Brits, Canadians and Aussies in an effort to psych them out and “win” the battle royale. If so, good for him. Sure, it’s just a “friendly competition” but I really want the Americans and the Viking to win.
Anyway, Harry has been away from Cressida Bonas for a few weeks already – Harry got stuck in South Africa for longer than he was expecting, as he and his team waited out some storm. So, is Harry missing his girlfriend? Is their separation making him come to terms with the idea that Cressida is “The One”? I don’t know. The UK papers keep saying that Cressida is going to get a proposal at some point very soon, but we’ll see. Meanwhile, The Daily Mail’s “Diary” claims that Harry is spending a small fortune trying to keep in touch with Cressie:
Prince Harry has been spending £5 per minute to keep in touch with his girlfriend Cressida Bonas during his Antarctic charity trek.
Harry, 29, chatted with Cressida, 24, on a £1,200 Iridium satellite phone from the base camp where he and his Walking With The Wounded team-mates were snowed in until Friday.
‘Harry has been using the phone to check in with Cress,’ I am told. ‘They miss one another terribly.’
Before he left for the trek a fortnight ago, Harry gave Cressida the Help For Heroes bracelet he has worn for years.
Harry could also be leaving his one-bedroom flat at Kensington Palace for a 21-room home there – next door to William and Kate. According to Princess Michael of Kent, he is taking the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s apartment as they are downsizing.
I put more stock in the idea that Harry is beginning his transition to full-time working royal with all of the palace-y accoutrements and THAT is why he wants a wife now, as opposed to “Harry is calling Cressida all the time when it’s -30 degrees Fahrenheit.” Is he checking in with Cressida? Maybe. Probably. But it could be that the phone is just for emergencies too. But if Harry is making plans to move into a 21-room “apartment” in Kensington Palace, he’s got his mind on marriage, babies and getting a wife.
Here’s a recent photo of Cressida with her big sister Isabella – Isabella was the one William tried to date during one of his breakups with Kate. Cressida has really pretty hair.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m not sure why, but I don’t want him to marry her. Something doesn’t feel right.
I’m on the fence still….
Cause it seems like he should be with someone cool and fun and more *interesting*, right? Like Queen Max of the Netherlands.
I think that’s it. He should be with someone with more…something. Personality?
The UK could not handle a Maxima. The UK’s press would not be kind to Maxima (h*ll who are they kind to???) It takes a unique country to embrace her!
LS, I agree, which is why it would be so fantastic to see someone bring down the house for our voyeuristic enjoyment 🙂
But Anna, I think the interesting person would be eaten alive. 🙁
Unless it’s someone with a voracious appetite, who would bite right back!
LadySlippers
Maybe Cressida is intereting, but they’re not showcasing her interests and personality so she won’t be eaten alive..?
I think ths whole relationship is securely under wraps and we only know what is controlled and leaked out on purpose.
@Florc, I don’t doubt that Harry and his staff are trying to keep her out of the limelight which means we only see a glimpse of her.
But I think anyone interesting is eaten alive by the British press. They seem to thrive on a convoluted form of torture.
I shouldn’t really say she doesn’t have personality. I don’t actually know, and you don’t see much about them together. I just have a bad feeling about it, that he’s just ready to get married and is marrying the person he happens to be dating, and that she’s hesitant about the life of a royal, but is being pressured into it.
LS
British press is awful. Cressida or someone else. Harry’s wife will be attacked worse than anyone attacks Kate. It’ll make Diana and Fergie’s tabloid covers look tame.
Florc, I don’t think Cressida will be attacked like Kate at all. Could be wrong, but I don’t think so. It would be starting now if they were going to.
BluHare, I so so wish I could agree with you but I do agree with Florc. The UK’s press went after Kate for so long because no one really thought he’d marry her. Their tone changed after the engagement as he’s a direct heir.
Harry’s just ‘the spare’ and he’s fair game — as is his spouse. Like Sarah, Harry’s wife will enjoy a BRIEF press honeymoon and then the feasting will begin. 🙁
do they even really date??) where r the pictures of them together?
Lana, I think they are but Harry’s shielding her to the best of his ability.
The pictures exist, but after the initial posting them up they become harder to find.
1 that comes to mind was post a friends wedding where Cressida wore the blue sparkly blazer. It was Harry and Cressida waiting for a train(?). They were on the platform standing closer together and as the camera kept snapping they stepped further apart.
Keep in mind when no one is calling the paps and can keep secrets the paps aren’t always around the corner getting shots. They can be evaded.
Because she looks like Marcia Brady?
omg what if he married a black girl?!
would the U.K go crazy?
I was involved with a British guy for several years and spent a lot of time in the UK with him. I found that interracial dating seemed to be more widely accepted there. Whether that would apply to the royal family, hard to say. Harry seems to like WASPY girls though. 😉
I really hope he marries a commoner. A real commoner. Not rich like Kate was. And one who has a real career. Like a doctor, or a lawyer. But he probably couldn’t handle such a woman.
Actually I think a woman like that wouldn’t want to handle the life that comes with Harry.
He’s already dated a lawyer. That’s what Chelsy Davy does, though she’s not exactly the non-rich sort of commoner. According to most accounts, the problem wasn’t that Harry couldn’t handle her, but that she wasn’t interested in trying to handle royal life. Can’t really say I blame her.
I think an ideal match for Harry would be an armed forces colleague, blonde of course, intelligent and motivated, who’s been deployed. That would rather de-claw the press attempt to skewer her – terribly bad form to abuse a veteran!
I think this was mentioned before but there is something very Sienna Miller about her.
Somehow I was wishing that he’d settle for a woman’s woman. Someone with more umph and maturity, who was a bit more vivacious, traditionally accomplished, and more curvaceous (of course, nothing is wrong with being angular).
But if she suits him then she suits him. However, I can’t help but to wonder if he feels pressured to be in a relationship because he is single when compared to his brother and cousins (Zara & her brother & the York girls). I don’t know about his friends.
Sure, but I bet everyone can use it if they need to.
Hey! No scrunchies in sight. Is this part of her Waity makeover?
I think it is. Ever since the reports came out that now Cressida is “on board” with the idea of marriage she’s been looking better in front of the cameras, even if it’s a paparazzi pic.
She is very plain, isn’t she? Her sister is beautiful, even Kate is much prettier.
She is plain like Diana was, but Diana had inner beauty. We don’t know enough about Cressida to see her inner side.
I have always found Diana’s face to be unusually striking. Not plain in the slightest. Rather, deeply expressive. In the early years before she gave interviews, Diana could speak volumes with just a glance of her eyes.
Personally, I think Cressida is cute, girlish looking, not nearly as beautiful as her elder sister. Kate is plain, dull through and through and really nothing about her catches my eye, although she looked very pretty on her wedding day.
I thought Diana was very beautiful. I wouldn’t say Cressida was plain, exactly, more plain vanilla. I think Kate is more “cute.” It’s funny how differently two people can see beauty.
I think Kate is pretty, Diana was plain, Crassida is ( to me) on the uglier side. I wasn’t around Diana’s time so she didn’t have an impact on me, and Kate and Cressida haven’t done anything memorable enough to have an impact.
I imagine the phone would be for emergencies, can’t really see him calling too much and I’m sure anyone can use it, but if he does, so what?
Shouldn’t he be concentrating on the task at hand and not acting like some love sick teenager? I doubt this story is even true but if it is, it is sad that stuff like this has to be “leaked” in order to make him look like he is so in love and that there is another boring royal wedding on the horizon.
I appreciate the effort ALL TEAMS are giving for this cause but have to wonder why so much attention is focused on Harry? Just because he is a royal, that makes his effort so much more important than the rest of the participants? ( this is not directed at the writer of this blog but at the coverage in the media in general).
I imagine Alex is distancing himself and his team from the hype and doing what he can to complete the trek.
This is a charity effort. They need as much publicity as they can get. They aim to raise £2M. That isn’t going to happen if no one knows about it.
Harry has the highest profile out of the entire team whether you agree with that or not. Further, his profile transcends borders and doesn’t need explanation or fans to maintain it. It would be dumb of them not to use that.
on the gossip front, this story is ridiculous considering the phone is for emergency use ONLY [per information given by the expedition itself]. Further, they all have the same phone privileges.
It isn’t that serious. Just my opinion which you do not have to agree with.
I just happen to not be a fangirl of the royals. I do not dislike thembut do not see the big deal in them either. There are many men participating in this effort and not just Prince Harry.
If you noticed I said I did not believe the story to be true.
Enjoy the beautiful day ahead.:-)
Eliza: The charity effort is serious. WWTW is a fantastic organisation. They got the most high profile spokesperson who would have them. That’s the tenor of my comments.
WWTW as an organisation was struggling to get any sort of media profile until Harry agreed to become their patron. They have other spokespeople, but clearly royals are a bigger draw. It is what it is.
Where did I say that the charity was not that serious? I said you and I having a difference of opinion was not that serious. Please do not try to educate me on things I am very aware of.
My point is this is nit the Prince Harry show and say what you will about his profile etc, the other participants deserve recognition aswell, whether or not they are royals.
I do not wish to argue. Again, it is my opinion and you do not have to agree with it.
Again, enjoy your day. 🙂
There’s nothing wrong with giving a lot of the attention to Harry, since he is the most well-known person. But to ONLY focus on him like most of the media has been doing is quite tacky. Not to mention he’s the one in LEAST danger. Every other participant has a job they have to get back to eventually. If anything happens to Harry he can just spend the rest of his days laying about and living off his family fortune.
@Eliza: Your first sentence about ‘it not being serious’ could read in several different ways. I thought you meant Harry & Cressida weren’t serious and I think LAK took the ‘it’ to refer to the charity. From my end it looks like a simple misunderstanding.
Jen
The media isn’t “ONLY” focusing on Harry. His name and image is being used a lot for reasons LAK listed, but isn’t the only one being focused on. There are many articles where the vets are the main focus. Those articles do not really get covered on gossip/blog sites though. The AP and even BBC are very good sources for real news.
DM, FOX, MSNBC, CNN all have artciles on this focused on Harry. These are poor examples of news sites and at this point are more blog based.
Eliza: From your comments “why so much attention is focused on Harry? Just because he is a royal, that makes his effort so much more important than the rest of the participants? ”
My response: “Harry has the highest profile out of the entire team whether you agree with that or not” and “They got the most high profile spokesperson who would have them” and “They need as much publicity as they can get.”
I am answering your question. To me the spotlight on Harry is much the same as the spotlight on Angelina Jolie when she goes visiting refugees.
As to your opinion on the royals, it is what it is. I’m not trying to change that or even argue it.
I highly doubt he was the only one who used sat phones to call loved ones before they left on the actual Trek. So the Daily Fail is probably making stuff up. Or making mountains out of molehills. And if he was making phone calls, how would the DF know? I doubt there are people on the Trek calling them (on sat phones) and letting them know what’s going on.
And we’re starting to get pictures of people other than Prince Harry, including Alex.
https://www.facebook.com/walkingwiththewounded (this is public so you don’t need a FB account to see it).
https://twitter.com/supportthewalk
Yup. Sat phone use isn’t that rare. I’m sure they all used it to check in with loved ones.
There are no pictures of Alex because unfortunately all the press attention has been on Harry blah blah blaaaaaahhhh. You can see him lurking in the background in a lot of the pictures/video.
There are some photos of Alex.
http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/southpole2013/gallery/team-us-training-in-la-with-alexander-skarsgard
http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/southpole2013/gallery/alexander-skarsgard-and-inge-solheim-in-norway
http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/southpole2013/gallery/team-us-prepare-for-south-pole-race-in-colorado/
http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/southpole2013/gallery/us-team-training/
You can follow the updates via facebook
https://www.facebook.com/walkingwiththewounded
We haven’t really seen any pics of Dominic West and his crew as well. The media is fixated on Harry and his crew simply because Harry is the bigger draw out of all of them.
The statement about Harry moving into the Gloucesters’ apartment is also not true. The DM took PM’s suggestion in an leaked interview from Tatler’s latest edition and reported it as fact. Pretty shoddy considering they reported the original interview a couple of days earlier.
Her suggestion was that it would be nice IF Harry took that flat since it’s next door to WK and they could play happy families as a collective or words to that effect.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2515907/Princess-Michael-Kent-royalty-money-lineage.html
extract:
“”When Princess Margaret died, they gave it to the museum [the apartment was handed to Historic Royal Palaces for display and office space].
‘And, obviously, the boy was going to marry one day. He’d need the best apartment, surely. A lovely big garden, next to the Gloucesters, who I think will leave… they’re rattling around this huge space.
‘And I think Prince Harry might go there, then they’d be next door to each other – very good move. And also, I thought she [Kate] would get the wobblies if she moved next door [into Diana’s former flat].””
Thanks Lak.
The story of Harry move next door to the lazy two made me gag. He’s an adult who is setting his own course in life. He doesn’t need to copy the lazy two. Proud of him for all his service.
Moving in to KP will probably happen eventually and it’s not because he’ll be copying the Cambridge’s — it’s just he’ll need to size up.
But I love how the papers will twist anything for a new story. *sigh*
Princess Michael is as opinionated and discreet as Middleton Uncle Gary.
I think Harry certainly will recieve a bigger “apartment” when he marries, but he’s always been the least snobbish of his immediate family (Harry, Will, Charles). Its unimaginable to me that hardworking Harry, who stayed in regular soldier barracks in Afghanistan, would demand or request a 21 room apartment for his exclusive use.
Plus who would be in charge of decor? Please not another multimillion (taxpayer sponsored) beige masterpiece designed by the beige Catherine of Waiting.
I hope Harry gets CH and Highgrove since William will get everything else.
Personally, I’d like to see more pics of Dominic West….super-sexy guy.
TheOriginalKitten – Here are a few of him in south Africa and on Antarctica.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/17/article-2508964-19790A9200000578-892_634x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/17/article-2508964-19791D5800000578-627_634x411.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/20/article-2510618-1988EDA400000578-773_634x454.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/20/article-2510618-1988ED6C00000578-471_634x421.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/24/article-2512724-199A48D200000578-46_634x409.jpg
For Viking fans, here is a clear shot of him checking in to leave South Africa to Team USA’s training base:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/22/article-2511857-1994A15A00000578-606_634x635.jpg
Thanks you, LAK! That made my day 🙂
thanks LAK, you rock (I’m a Viking fan, even though I wanted Harry to win I may be seriously rethinking my position)
Yes more pics of the Viking! I like Harry also but Alex is way hotter. As for that boring Cressida do the British people really like her? She is so boring and looks like she would be afraid of her own shadow. Also she is aging rapidly. Maybe it is just because she came out of nowhere after years of us getting to see Harry play around but as an obssessed American I am not ready to accept her.
“Here’s a recent photo of Cressida with her big sister Isabella – Isabella was the one William tried to date during one of his breakups with Kate. Cressida has really pretty hair.”
Hee, hee. Sums it all perfectly, these last couple lines do.
I’m still rooting for Chelsy, but Cressida looks good in the picture with her sister. Like what they’re both wearing. Probably the best she looked in public so far.
Pictures and videos of Alex here so he’s not lost: https://twitter.com/mysterion9x9
I really can’t stand them together and I hope they don’t get married. I can’t see her as a royal
With you on this. No just no!
Virgin Money UK, the sponsor of the Trek, has a Flickr page, a lot of these are seen elsewhere but these are HQ:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/virginmoney-uk/
A Youtube page of some of the raw footage:
https://www.youtube.com/user/729113223/videos
I understand the focus on Harry, but I think now that the Trek has started there might be a shift back to focusing on the veterans. I think some of the complaint wasn’t just that the media was focusing on Harry, but that the photos/videos released by WWtW also focused perhaps a bit much on Harry. I think in the interviews Harry himself has been very well aware that the ‘stars’ of this are the veterans.
But it’s a bit of problem sometimes, you want a major celebrity to bring focus to your cause, but what if that ends taking focus away from the actual cause?
As if. At this point, Harry could date a monkey and the press would say that hes desperate to marry her. They have falsely linked him to so many women in the past, they are just happy to have actual an relationship to base stories off of so they have to get on that while they can. Harry and Cressida only became official earlier this year so its way too soon for an engagement and when they break up, there will be years of will they wont they speculation until one of them moves on, just like it was with Chelsy.
As for Alex, there was a video released this weekend which showed Harry giving him a hug before they left for their camp. You can probably find it under the Alex or Harry tag on Tumblr.
I agree on everything.
Harry is the most successful royal patron of his causes after Diana. I have never seen posters of a charity endeavor or a charity on tube here in England and this is the result of his involvement. His presence brings huge media attention and hence a lot of commercial brands decided to sponsor this trek. William and Kate can learn A LOT from him.
Me too. Last week as i waited for my tube train,i realised i was looking at a WWTW poster. I see them everywhere now.
And i am with you in that i can’t recall seeing posters for charities on the tube. ever. It’s usually mobile companies, financial services, theatre or films.
Doesn’t it sound like someone has been leaking way too much info since this relationship started? Cressida’s brother was recently quoted speaking about the pressures surrounding a royal relationship. Also, the Tatler “Harry loves Cressie” cover article was kind of shocking. She’s got two actress half sisters, a dj half brother and there just seems to be way too much openness with the media.
I don’t think there is too much media openness with CB or her family. We barely have any photos of her, she belongs to a famous aristocratic family and posed for the Tattler magazine way before she met Harry with her family, the cover photo is an old photo. Her brother didn’t say anything about her relationship or gave any details, he just said his sister should be careful re media attention and pressure before marrying Harry (it was nice to know someone will tell her about all the cons and not just blindly promote her because she is dating a prince). They are very discrete compared to Middleton, Middleton’s favorite paparazzi knew Kate was pregnant before RF and knew it was a boy before official statement was made, I also don’t see Cress’s sisters/family taking free Range Rover cars. free dresses, publishing books, writing columns if she ever gets married to him.
Considering that all the kids from that family have pursued careers in popular media (honestly, aside from trained dancer Cressida “the arts” is a bit of a stretch for the rest) I’d definitely say that they’re putting themselves out there as much is socially acceptable within their circles. They’re never going to be on the level of a Katie Price, but I would say that big sis Isabella’s gotten an awful lot of mileage out of being the “one that got away” from big brother William (seriously, she got more mileage out of turning down a date than any of his actual girlfriends got – that’s some good media game) than she ever got as an actress. The mother in this family was a pretty famous ‘socialite’ in the 70s, so as much as people talk about them being upper-class, they’re not exactly the horse and tweed set.
I think Harry wants to get married. In his social circle he’s at the point where people are paired off and starting families and he’s still the guy partying in Vegas. He may have a tour left in the army, but at some point he’s going to segue into being a working royal and he clearly doesn’t want to do it alone. Cressida could be the love of his life, or she could be someone that he gets along with well that is willing to take on life with the royal family.
It seems like British royals are expected to marry Britons, else have their name and reputation dragged through the mud. Wallis Simpson is the only recent foreigner to marry in, but she’s a difficult example for many reasons.
I do get the feeling the Brits are unintentionally xenophobic, especially among the upper classes with their unique cultural traditions. (Hunting, Polo, Country Homes, Horses, Staff etc.) Not intentionally mistrustful of outsiders, but rather inevitably exclusive, based on the price of membership to the elite British circles.
Cressida checks the right boxes in this sense. Shes friends with the Yorks, so she’s in the circles of exclusivity. Chelsy Davy was a foreigner, and I’d bet on some level she always felt aware of that fact.
Oh, Wallis-Simpson. Yea, poor examplefor at least 8 reasons i’ve listed in my head.
Chelsey and Harry were very young. First love is always a whirlwind. If anything I think Chelsey was more aware her life would not be her own if she continued with Harry. Not being from another country.
Brits have a bucket load of pride in their status and hobbies though. Didn’t believe how much so until I became friends with a few.
I came to believe all households there were like Upstairs, Downstairs.
I agree with this sentiment. I think there is an implicit understanding that Harry and William would be expected to chose a British bride. Didn’t the press say that Chelsy missed Africa and that it was a factor in their breakup?
The country house/ horsey world reminds me of Charles and Camilla. They conducted their romance entirely in the country homes of their friends who protected them for a long time from the prying eyes of the press. I bet Will and Harry feel that same sort of protection from their close friends with bedrooms to spare and no need to sell them out for money.
Except Chelsy was accepted into the upper echelon social cirlces. She was even the Maid of Honor in the Percy daughter’s recent wedding – and the Percy’s are OLD blood Brits. Yes, ‘breeding’ and ‘class’ are a big deal in society, but considering that Britain has long been a part of the larger world, and with a history of intermarriages at least within the European continent, I would at least give them credit for not necessarily demanding a British bride.
I miss seeing pictures of Harry and Chelsea together…they always looked so happy!!
I totally agree. They always looked like they were just coming from bed or going to… I sense zero chemistry between Harry and Cressie. The few pictures of them together in circulation remind me of Mr and Mrs Glum. I just hope he’s not settling for this girl because he just wants to settle down. That would surely end in disaster.
Does being “stuck in South Africa” mean Chelsy? I prefer her to this Cressida chick!!
Those satellite phones have become cheap .. just $1200 now.
That’s what I call roughing it for charity.
Well, I think it’s probably true that Harry would like to settle down. Although portrayed as the party Prince, I’ve always thought he seemed more entranced by the idea of one lady and domestic bliss than William. Cressida is reallllllly young though. Not sure that rushing a marriage is a good idea for either of them.
Why isn’t the press pestering Princess Bea’s boyfriend of nearly a decade to propose? They ought to be the next royal engagement.