Husband Meghan dropped on brink of TV fame, William’s reality star ex & Kate’s rugby crush… royals’ first real romances
ROYAL romances are often seen as fairy tales and most of the current members of the family are happily wed.
But many royals suffered the pain of first love before they found happiness with their current partners.
This week, it was revealed Princess Beatrice‘s bad boy ex, Paolo Liuzzo, had died at the age of 41.
The American – who she dated when she was just 17 – died of an overdose in a Miami hotel room, and Beatrice was said to be devastated by the news.
But other royals also had their hearts broken by the first flush of romance.
Here we look at their first loves and where they are now.
Princess Beatrice and Paolo Liuzzo
The death of Princess Beatrice’s first love, in February, has shocked the world and left the royal mourning her teenage love.
He dated the Princess in 2005 after they met in Jamaica. The pair had a whirlwind romance that lasted a year.
Bad boy Paolo had a history of drug abuse, gambling and a violent charge for his role in the death of a student – but the teenage Princess cared about him so deeply she even pushed for him to meet her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
After they started dating, he broke the news to Beatrice that he had been involved in the death of a student three years prior and was initially charged with manslaughter for his role in the drunken brawl.
The charge was downgraded to assault and battery for which he served 100 hours of community service.
Despite this, Beatrice’s parents Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson tried their best to be publicly supportive of their eldest daughter, even inviting him on holiday to Sweden with them.
But this well intentioned gesture ended the romance, as Liuzzo’s attendance violated his parole and he was sent back to the US to have his three-year probation extended as punishment.
Beatrice went on to marry property developer Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi with whom she shares daughter Sienna, two. She is stepmum to his son Christopher, born 2016.
Prince William and Rose Farquhar
Before meeting the now Princess of Wales, Prince William dated a string of high society women – but the one who is reported to have first captured his heart is Rose Farquhar.
Rose and Prince William met in 2000 at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire after he finished his A-levels at Eton.
Although their relationship was short lived Rose is often described as the Prince’s first love.
The pair broke up before Prince William went to university at St Andrews where he would meet his now wife, Kate Middleton.
Rose went on to become a singer, appearing in The Voice in 2016 and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? in 2006.
She made it to the final 16 before her dreams of appearing in the West End production of The Sound of Music were dashed.
In 2022, she married George Gemmell, an aspiring vet and stepson of the Barbadian building tycoon Sir Charles Williams.
Prince William found time to attend the ceremony, reportedly sneaking in the back to watch the vows so as not to take attention away from his ex-girlfriend’s big day.
Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy
Between 2004 and 2011, Prince Harry and Zimbabwean-born Chelsy Davy enjoyed an intense romance.
The pair met in Cape Town in 2004 and Prince Harry wrote in his book Spare he immediately knew Chelsy was “different”.
“I’d always wanted to know what it might be like to meet a woman and not have her eyes widen at the mention of my titles but instead to widen them myself using my mind, my heart,” he wrote. “With Chelsy that seemed a real possibility.”
However, their relationship ended after seven years and Chelsy, who was just 19 when they met, made it clear that she had no interest in being in the public eye.
She said dating someone as famous as Harry could be terrifying.
“I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldn’t cope,” she says. “I was young, I was trying to be a normal kid. It was horrible.”
The pair parted ways but remained amicable, with Chelsy attending his wedding to Meghan Markle. She has since married her partner of three years, Sam Cutmore-Scott in a secret ceremony in 2022.
The couple now share a son together, Leo, born in January 2022.
Kate Middleton and Harry Blakelock
Before she met her Prince Charming, Kate Middleton was busy being heartbroken and pining over a rugby lad she had met in high school.
Kate and Harry Blakelock attended Marlborough College together but their relationship ended before she went to St Andrews, where she would meet Prince William.
In the book Kate: The Future Queen, a friend of Kate’s is quoted saying she was “really hung up” on Harry.
“She spoke about him all the time. I think he may have broken her heart slightly. He seemed to blow hot and cold with her when they were at school and she was always talking about how she could get him back.”
Princess Eugenie and Hugo Taylor
Party girl Eugenie had her first headline romance with Made in Chelsea star Hugo Taylor, at 18.
The pair were spotted making out at a nightclub when Eugenie was just 18 and Hugo 21.
A source told the Daily Mail, “Eugenie likes bad boys and Hugo is dark and a little bit naughty, which she loves.
“It’s not necessarily an exclusive relationship but they both like each other.”
Hugo – who also appeared in I’m A Celeb – had a reputation as a ladies man so the romance was short-lived.
He went on to marry Millie Mackintosh and they share daughters Sienna, three, and Aurelia, two.
Princess Eugenie wed Jack Brooksbank in 2018, and they have two boys – August, three, and Ernest, 11 months.
Meghan Markle and Trevor Engleson
Meghan Markle had a string of short term relationships before she met her first husband Trevor Engleson in the early 2000s.
The pair were both in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and moved in the same circles.
They dated for seven years before getting married in an intimate ceremony in Jamaica in 2011 – however the marriage swiftly fell apart.
Meghan had been cast as Rachel Zane in Suits – her big break – and it required her to be away for filming frequently which is thought to be one of the reasons the pair divorced just two years after their ceremony.
Nina Priddy, a close friend of Meghan’s and her maid of honour, told The Express she didn’t want to associate with Meghan after the divorce.
“The way she handled it, Trevor definitely had the rug pulled out from under him. He was hurt.”
Six years later, Meghan would marry Prince Harry in a lavish ceremony screened around the world.
The year after, Trevor would also remarry, this time to dietician and heiress Tracey Kurland.
Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend
The forbidden first love between the Princess and her bodyguard has been retold many times, most recently in The Crown’s season 5.
The pair first met at Buckingham Palace when he interviewed for a position as George VI’s equerry.
Princess Margaret was “as unremarkable as one would expect of a 14-year-old girl,” according to a later interview with Peter.
In 1947, a now married Peter was assigned to guard the 17-year-old on a royal trip to South Africa, and it was then that Princess Margaret says she fell in love with him.
Over the years, the feeling grew to be mutual – but it was never to be.
Not only was Peter a commoner but he was now a divorcee, having separated from his wife to dedicate himself to the Princess.
Given that by law, Margaret had to be 25 to marry anyway, the late Queen Elizabeth II asked her to wait before marrying Peter, despite their deep love.
By the time she turned 25, Margaret was given the choice to either forget the marriage and remain in the line of succession for the crown, or give it all up and marry the man she had loved since she was 17.
Margaret put duty before her heart, and she and Peter separated, both eventually remarrying other people.
King Charles and Lucia Santa Cruz
Before the late Princess Diana, there was Camilla Parker Bowles – but before Camilla, there was Lucia Santa Cruz – Charles’s first love, who introduced him to his now wife and Queen.
Lucia was the daughter of the former Chilean ambassador to London and met the the Prince Charles in 1968 at Cambridge University where she was a research assistant.
She was five years older than him, spoke four languages and already had several degrees from Kings College, Oxford and St. Antony’s.
Smitten by her intelligence and her beauty, Charles fell head over heels for her, even introducing her to the family on a trip to Balmoral.
Although their romance faded, Lucia is credited with introducing the King to his current wife – then known as Camilla Shand.
In 1971, Lucia moved into a flat in Belgravia, London – right next door to the young, eligible Camilla.
She told Charles she had just the girl for him – and she did. Charles and Camilla hit it off immediately and fell head over heels for one another.
As for Lucia, she married Juan Luis Ossa, a Chilean lawyer and politician, and had three children. She remained friends with both Charles and Camilla all the way until her death in 2019.