As she posed by the sea for Mother’s Day in a white linen shirt and matching shorts flanked by a cherubic boy and girl – their faces turned away from the camera as is de rigeuer for famous parents on social media – it was exactly the kind of snap that you’d expect to see on Meghan Markle’s Instagram grid.

But this sun-kissed, stealth wealth image was not taken in Montecito, but rather featured Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy who dated the prince on and off between 2004 to mid-2010, and is now a mother-of-two with a jewellery brand, via an abandoned career in law.

It’s quite the turnaround for the former ‘wild child’ who was not considered ‘suitable’ as a royal bride before the pair eventually split for good in 2011.

Commonly seen bleary-eyed as she stumbled out of London‘s nightclubs in the early hours with a carefree Harry in his 20s, she and the prince were in many ways very well suited – both gregarious and party loving, with a huge group of friends.

Yet after more than a decade spent largely out of the limelight since her relationship with Harry ended, Chelsy, now 39, is living exactly the kind of wholesome Insta-friendly lifestyle that Meghan has been so eager to convey via her Netflix series.

Chelsy is a successful businesswoman after ditching her career as a City lawyer to launch her own jewellery company Aya – and has finally found Mr Right, in the form of millionaire hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott, who was in the year above Harry at Eton.

She and Harry have much in common still – sharing a love for Africa and having two children – a boy and a girl – and hoping, at least outwardly, for privacy. Like his wife Meghan Markle, Chelsy is promoting her own brand through a glamorous Instagram feed.

But there, the similarities soon end. For, unlike the Sussexes, who have launched a series of publicity-churning endeavours including an £80million Netflix deal, Chelsy has maintained a much more subtle public image since her split from Harry – even going completely under the radar in 2020 after which she didn’t share a photo of herself to Instagram for four years.

A picture of Chelsy Davy posted for Mother’s Day has prompted fans to consider how different things could have been for Prince Harry if they’d stayed together

Chelsy dated the prince ‘on and off’ between 2004 to mid-2010. Pictured in 2007, at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium

This weekend, she unwittingly caught the attention of royal fans once more after sharing a candid image with her two children, Leo, three, and Chloe, born last year, bathed in a background of sunlight, and appearing to radiate contentment.

The image seems to have served as a pertinent reminder for many of how different things could have been for the royal family if Harry had stuck with his first love – the woman he once told friends was ‘the best thing to ever happen to me’.

At the time, Chelsy appeared an unsuitable bride for such a prominent royal – but now, as she flourishes in private away from the spotlight, it’s become clear how much she could have brought to the table.

Speaking to FEMAIL, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, noted that, if they had stayed together, it is unlikely Harry would have feuded with his family and that they could have achieved ‘much good’ by each other’s sides.

He noted: ‘If he had married Chelsy, she certainly could not have married in secret as she did to her husband Sam in 2022.

‘There might have been a problem if she was unhappy doing full time royal engagements and was diffident given the scrutiny the royal role demanded.

‘However it is impossible to conceive of her being part of a rift in the royal family, which has led to Harry being estranged from it and, most painfully, from his father who is fighting cancer and his brother.

‘One would imagine them in royal life as a couple who were as independent as their situation would allow, but also devoted to the monarchy. They could have done so much good for the Commonwealth, especially in Africa, and most particularly during the current geopolitical instability.

Once considered a ‘wild child’ unsuitable for royal life, Chelsy has emerged as a successful businesswoman and mother. Pictured modelling for her jewellery brand, Aya

Party-loving Chelsy was seen as the antidote to the more ‘prim’ Kate Middleton (pictured together in 2006)

She was often pictured with Harry after emerging from nightclubs together. Pictured after a spending the evening at the Mahiki club in London in 2007

Royal fans gushed over Chelsy’s Mother’s Day post, which features her two children

‘If he had married Chelsy, the ‘old Harry’ would not have been an exile, that is certain.’

Reflecting further, he added: ‘This has been a traumatic week for Prince Harry, who has left Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in memory of his mother, which was helping so many in Southern Africa, in highly controversial circumstances.

‘With an idyllic photo of his former girlfriend Chelsea Davy and her two children posted on Instagram garnering a good deal of attention, one can wonder what might have been if they had stayed together.’

Chelsy grew up in Victoria Falls, telling Tatler she had an ‘idyllic African childhood’, as the daughter of Beverley, a model and Charles, a wealthy Zimbabwean businessman.

She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Cape Town in 2006, and a law degree from the University of Leeds in 2009.

She was recruited by ‘Magic Circle’ legal firm Allen & Overy, and reportedly first met Harry in England, when they were at school.

They got together in 2004 during Harry’s gap year travels in Zimbabwe, where Chelsy’s millionaire father owns and runs a game reserve. At the time, she was a pupil at Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

What followed was Harry’s first serious relationship – seeing him travel on holiday to South Africa with her family, and Chelsy was by his side for the Diana memorial concert in 2007.

In his bombshell memoir Spare, released in January 2023, the prince reflected that his ex-girlfriend was ‘unlike so many girls he met’ because she didn’t have ‘throne syndrome’ and ‘wasn’t visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook his hand’.

He described the moment he reunited with Chelsy in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2004 – after first meeting ‘years earlier’ at the Berkshire Polo Club.

Prince Harry and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy laughing before the Investec Challenge international rugby match South Africa vs. England in Twickenham in 2008

Harry later blamed the press for their break-up, saying Chelsy had wanted a life away from the spotlight

Chelsy was Harry’s first serious girlfriend and is considered by many to be his first live. Pictured on a visit to the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, 2010

‘She was…different,’ said the royal. ‘That was the word that had come to mind when I first met her, and it immediately came to mind now, and then again and again.’

He continued: ‘Unlike so many people I knew, she seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, with propriety, with royalty.

‘Unlike so many girls I met, she wasn’t visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook my hand. She seemed immune to that common affliction sometimes called throne syndrome.’

In his book, Harry recalled how Chelsy seemed ‘bored’ by his title and knew ‘less than nothing’ about his family.

The relationship became so serious that palace officials remarked he had started calling her ‘wifey’ and she in turn called him ‘hubby’.

It was clearly serious when Chelsy attended not only Harry’s cousin Peter Phillips’ wedding to Autumn Kelly – where she was introduced to the Queen – but she was also invited to Prince Charles’s 60th birthday celebrations.

She and Harry were members of the so-called ‘Glosse Posse’ – an exclusive group of friends including some of their best pals from Gloucestershire, Tom and Tor Inskip, the Harbord sisters (Astrid and Davina), Guy Pelly, Julian Erleigh and Natasha Rufus Isaacs.

Harry would even tell his friends that Chelsy was the ‘best thing that ever happened to me’ – showing that, had things been different, they could easily have stood the test of time together.

Chelsy was by Harry’s side for The Concert For Diana in 2007, showing the seriousness of their relationship

Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy kiss whilst sitting in the Royal Box as they attend the Cartier International Polo Match at Guards Polo Club in 2006

For years, Chelsy was seen by Harry’s side, from cheering him on at polo matches to partying the night away until the early hours at clubs in Mayfair.

But the pressures of their conflicting careers and long periods apart as Harry served in Afghanistan took their toll.

It was also rumoured that party-loving TV presenter Caroline Flack and other beautiful young women had caught Harry’s eye. ‘He was fascinated by her wild, carefree attitude and rock-chick lifestyle,’ a confidante of the late Miss Flack had said at the time.

The pair were reunited again in 2010 before splitting for good later that year, with Chelsy declaring that the life of a royal girlfriend is ‘not for me’. She would, however, go on to appear as his ‘plus one’ at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.

But it was clear that she and Harry remained friends afterwards, because she was invited to his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018 – when royal watchers pondered whether it could have been her walking down the aisle with the royal had things been different.

Harry would later blame press intrusion for their split, telling the High Court in 2023 that it was the ‘main factor’ in Chelsy dumping him as she decided ‘a royal life was not for her’.

The prince told how media stories put a strain on his and Miss Davy’s relationship and they started to ‘distrust everyone around us’.

He said the couple had a ‘feeling of being under surveillance all the time’ and that he believes ‘Chelsy found this even more difficult to deal with when she lived in England’.

For years, it was Chelsy who was firmly by Harry’s side. Pictured attending a service of remembrance and thanksgiving in 2008

‘Ultimately, these factors led her to make the decision that a royal life was not for her, which was incredibly upsetting for me at the time,’ Harry added.

After their final split in 2011, Chelsy has largely remained outside of the spotlight – and it’s only in recent months, to promote her jewellery brand, that she’s begun to enter public life once more.

In 2016, Chelsy launched her African jewellery brand Aya in 2016 after a year-long course at the Gemological Institute Of America, studying rare stones.

In an interview with Tatler in 2020, she reflected: ‘I’m very happy with where I am right now. I’m happy with everything. I’m doing something in Africa that I’m passionate about and I’m excited for what my vision is and what that will create. Everything is falling into place.’

Her last known boyfriend before then was dashing television producer James Marshall, from whom she split in 2018 – the same year she attended the wedding of her ex Harry, and his new bride Meghan.

Her now-husband Sam is the brother of Jack Cutmore-Scott, 35, the dashing Hollywood actor best known for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning film Tenet and the drama series Deception.

The siblings are close, and Chelsy is believed to have spent time with him in LA since she met her husband around five years ago.

They were first pictured together on a family holiday to Mauritius over Christmas 2019.

Chelsy attended Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011 (pictured, with Tom Inskip) as Harry’s plus one, though they never rekindled their relationship

Party-loving Chelsy revealed in 2020 that she had a serious boyfriend.

At the time she did not give his name, explaining: ‘There is someone, and I am quite taken by this one, but it’s very new and I don’t want to say too much.’

But both their 2022 wedding and subsequent births of their two children were kept quietly under wraps – meaning Chelsy has achieved the quiet life that Harry has expressed he so desires.

In 2022, Daily Mail’s Richard Eden disclosed that Chelsy had married hotelier Sam and given birth to a boy, Leo.

Her son’s birth was kept so private that his arrival only emerged three months later after he was introduced to their local parish council in Norfolk.

Many of Chelsy’s friends didn’t even know she had become pregnant in lockdown.

‘They are married,’ a friend told Richard Eden in May 2022, adding: ‘Very few people knew about the wedding.’

Sam is the brother of Jack Cutmore-Scott, 35, the dashing Hollywood actor best known for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning film Tenet and the drama series Deception.

Chelsy is pictured with Prince William in 2013 at the wedding of Melissa Percy and Thomas van Straubenzee at St Michael’s Church – two years after her break-up with Harry

The siblings are close, and Chelsy is believed to have spent time with him in LA since she met her now-husband three years prior.

It’s not known how they met, but a photograph from September 2019 showed Chelsy with a man who appeared to be Sam walking down a street in London’s Soho together at night.

Around the same time, a picture on her Instagram showed Chelsy partying in Mauritius, cuddling a man who looks like Sam, while in another social media picture, taken six months later, the couple appeared to be holidaying in Istanbul together. While her love of partying may have mellowed, her love of travel has not.

She only announced news of her daughter Chloe’s birth this September, when she announced she was relaunching her jewellery brand, Aya, with a new collection ‘named after my baby girl’.

‘POV: it’s been three years and two babies since your last new collection, but you’re mega-excited to be back in the game,’ Chelsy announced.

She added: ‘Introducing the Chloe Collection, named after my baby girl. Hope you love it as much as I do x.’

Posting the mother and daughter snap to her Instagram Stories, Chelsy added: ‘My little muse…’

The post also marked Chelsy’s public return to social media, after four years sharing faceless snaps of her luxurious holidays, including trips to Prague, Italy and Mauritius.

Chelsy is said to have remained friends with Harry after their breakup. Pictured at his wedding to Meghan in 2018

In 2020, Chelsy shared this photo to Instagram. But didn’t share another of herself for four years

On January 1, the same day that Meghan Markle returned to Instagram, Chelsy said she was ‘so excited’ for all that is to come this year.

She said: ‘Happy New Year! Thank you so much for all the love since the relaunch of Aya in the summer, I have been blown away by your support and am so grateful to everyone who has been part of the journey.

‘I am so excited for all that is to come in 2025 – stay tuned! Wishing you all a wonderful year ahead, from my family to yours. Cx.’

She’s now thought to divide her time between London and Cape Town.

In February, the Mail’s Richard Eden reported that Chelsy had applied to have her travel business struck off at Companies House.

Five years ago, she had outlined her vision, describing the venture as ‘an organic progression’ from her Aya jewellery business and explaining she was blessed with rare knowledge of ‘parts of Zambia and Cape Town’.

‘I’m not going to lie – [it] hasn’t gone swimmingly so far,’ Chelsy acknowledged in autumn 2020, though taking solace from the bookings she’d accepted ‘for next year’, only for lockdown to recur in 2021.

She had wanted to branch out into the luxury travel sector, using her family heritage and knowledge to organise bespoke holidays.

Chelsy is pictured modelling items from her jewellery brand Aya, launched in 2016

She set up the brand in 2016, and has recently relaunched it to share her new collections (pictured)

Nevertheless, the original jewellery brand, Aya, appears to be thriving, with Chelsy launching several new collections in recent months.

On the website, it states: ‘Initially dedicated to African gemstones in honour of Chelsy’s Zimbabwean heritage, Aya partnered with Gemfields to ensure the sustainable and ethical sourcing of natural stones in order to create unique jewellery inspired by the beauty of African life and landscape.’

In 2024, Aya return with its first ‘lab-grown stone range’ in the Chloe Collection, named after Chelsy’s daughter.

‘The brand continues to pay homage to its African roots through its bespoke work and the continuation of its founding collections as it looks ahead to a future defined by beauty and integrity,’ Chelsy states on her website.

It’s certainly a luxurious brand, with one peardrop necklace, including a white sapphire and diamond with 18jt solid gold, retailing for £1,400, currently reduced from £1,900.

Other ‘Aya essentials’ include diamond huggie hoops (£190), round diamond necklace (£250) and round ruby necklace (£400).

It was to showcase jewellery from Aya that Chelsy made her Mother’s Day post on Sunday evening – with many drawn in by the perfect picture of success it represented.

‘Prince Harry must feel a wave of heartache and regret every time he catches a glimpse of Chelsy Davy flourishing in Africa- her two children giggling by her side, her business thriving, and her life radiating joy and purpose, especially after her posting this lovely Mother’s Day picture capturing her glowing with maternal pride,’ one fan called ‘The Prince’ speculated.

Chelsy shares children Leo and Chloe with her husband Sam, whom she married in 2022 (the family is pictured together)

They added: ‘Chelsy, once so close, now stands as the one that got away, a bittersweet echo of a path he didn’t take, leaving him to wrestle with regret in the shadow of her happiness.’

Others gushed over the adorable photo, with Royal News Network writing: ‘Oh my goodness!! Love this picture of Chelsy Davy with her children! So sweet and lovely! She dated Harry for a number of years and now has a very successful jewelry company’;

Others said: ‘Chelsy Davy is a beautiful woman. She is also very intelligent & has created a lucrative business for herself. The way she is posing with her children looks far more natural, loving and not performative. Lovely family!’;

‘I just followed Chelsy Davy on Instagram. Such joyful and organic photos of friends, travels, food, fun, adventure, sunrises and sunsets, hiking and happiness. Harry didn’t want that, he wanted to be miserable and another miserable person to share that with. He certainly found it.’

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added: ‘In his controversial memoir, Spare, Harry eulogises Chelsy as being a free spirit who didn’t care about his royal connections.

‘He writes ‘about the main thing we had in common-Africa’ where she was born and raised. He called her father’s farm in Zimbabwe ‘the fulcrum of her world’ and he writes so affectionately of the times they spent there.

‘The pressure of dating a royal finally took their toll on the relationship, with press intrusion being specifically blamed. Chelsy went on to marry and have two children, and found a jewellery brand and a travel agency which was linked to African travel, though this was sadly heavily hit by the pandemic and no longer operates. S

‘he had the free spirit and independence Harry felt he needed. She has also never given interviews about their relationship. Everything we know about her is that she is a truly loyal and lively person whose attitudes are light years away from the destructive and calculated ruthlessness which Meghan has so clearly shown.’

KINDLY CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP COMMUNITY FOR FREE, GET THE LATEST ON THE GO HERE