All About Prince William's Exes
Dating in the modern world is hard enough, but there's an extra layer of complication when your boyfriend is quite literally going to become the King of England one day. Though Prince William has been happily married to Kate Middleton since 2011, beforehand he, like anyone else, looked for love through trial and error and dated a slew of young women, all of whom have gone on to make names for themselves in one way or another.
Though they don't have the level of fame they would have if they'd married him, they're all still well-known people in English society, working high-profile jobs, married to rich and influential men (albeit not as rich and influential as Prince William), and raising children who are not in direct line to the throne.
The lives of royals are interesting, but the lives of those on their periphery are interesting, too, even if they're no longer in contact with the Windsors. If you can't get enough of the royal family, here's everything you need to know about Prince William's exes.
Jecca Craig and Prince William bonded over animals
Prince William has dated women with impressive resumes, and his ex-girlfriend Jecca Craig is no exception. Craig, who hails from England, is all about conservation and animal activism. Per the Daily Mail, she's been affiliated with a number of nonprofits aimed at conserving wildlife, including Stop Ivory, which works to protect elephants from the ivory trade.
Craig comes from an influential family. Her father owns Lewa Downs, a conservation ranch in Kenya, which the future King of England once visited, prompting his love for conservationism. "Touching an elephant, seeing it lying there in front of you breathing very slowly, its enormous ribs going up and down, and picking the trunk up and listening to the breathing coming out of [it] in your ear — it's a really special, very privileged experience. And that, for any young guy, is like: 'Wow, this is cool,'" Prince William once said, per Daily Mail.
Prince William and Craig met while he was visiting Kenya in 2000, and the trip's impact seems to have had a lasting effect on him. There must not be bad blood, though. Prince William attended Craig's 2016 wedding to Jonathan Baillie, per The Telegraph, which was held at Lewa Downs. Craig is still married to Baillie, a fellow conservationist, and they share two children.
Olivia Hunt is married to a handsome lawyer
Dating someone who's dated someone royal sure can be a tall order — just ask Olivia Hunt's husband, Nicholas Wilkinson. According to the Daily Mail, Wilkinson, who has been named one of the best-looking barristers in England, once said, "I'm trying not to be intimidated by having a girlfriend who used to be with Prince William." If you ask us, Wilkinson doesn't have much to be intimidated by. Hunt and the royal dated while attending St Andrews, but it sounds like it wasn't a long or serious thing. As a source told the Daily Mail, "William was seeing Olivia when he met Kate and when Kate came on the scene Olivia moved off pretty quickly."
Though their romantic relationship didn't stand the test of time, Hunt and the Duke of Cambridge seemingly kept an amicable relationship afterward, and Hunt was invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. Hunt returned the favor by inviting William and Kate to her own wedding, though they reportedly did not attend. The couples may have run into each other at Pippa Middleton's wedding, though, as all were present that day, per the Daily Mail. Can't wait to see a season of "The Crown" about all of these wedding attendance matters.
Rose Farquhar auditioned for The Voice
When we picture someone who is royal-adjacent belting out a tune, our minds go straight to the stepsister in "Cinderella" with a positively dreadful voice. Fortunately for fans of "The Voice UK," Prince William's ex-girlfriend Rose Farquhar didn't sing a rendition of "Sing Sweet Nightingale," nor did she sound like Drizella Tremaine.
In 2016, Farquhar auditioned for the singing competition, entertaining the audience and judges, which included Boy George and will.i.am, with her cover of "Anyone Who Had a Heart." Unfortunately the judges didn't turn their chairs for Farquhar, meaning she didn't make it to the next round. "I feel completely gutted, but really proud and glad that, you know, I got the opportunity," she said of her audition, per the Mirror.
Per "William and Harry: Behind the Palace Walls," Farquhar and Prince William grew up together, and the two dated after he finished at Eton College. A source described their relationship as "innocent," adding, "They are still good friends and speak all the time." These days Farquhar stays out of the limelight, but she does have a Twitter account with a link to her SoundCloud page, where some of her original recordings can be heard.
Carly Massy-Birch and the dinner party drama
If the rumors are true, Carly Massy-Birch could instead go by Carly Messy-Birch. A former college girlfriend of Prince William, Massy-Birch once supposedly made both her ex-boyfriend and Kate Middleton uncomfortable with an apparently pointed remark during a party game.
Per "The Making of a Royal Romance" (via Express), the drama supposedly unfurled at a dinner. At said event, the group, which included Wills, Middleton, and Massy-Birch, played a game of Never Have I Ever. At the time of this party, Prince William and Middleton were secretly dating, and Massy-Birch knew. When it was her turn, she reportedly said, "I've never dated two people in this room," knowing the prince would have to drink as he had dated Massy-Birch and was dating Middleton. Massy-Birch's dramatic play outed the two lovers who were trying to keep their relationship a secret. According to the source, Prince William responded by whispering, "I can't believe you just said that." Express also reported Middleton supposedly wasn't thrilled about the house she shared with William and their other college roommates being a stone's throw from Massy-Birch's residence. Again, this is all tittle-tattle, but it's not not intriguing.
While there have been rumblings that Prince William drew a wedge between Massy-Birch and Middleton, some insist that wasn't the case. Per the Daily Mail, Massy-Birch's mother insisted, "there's absolutely no fall-out between her and Kate. In fact, all three of them are best friends."
Isabella Calthorpe didn't want to date William
Okay, this one's technically a former crush, not a former girlfriend. If you had a chance to date a prince you'd do anything to make that relationship work, right? Well, not if you are Isabella Calthorpe. Prince William pursued Calthorpe in the mid-2000s while on a break from his relationship with Kate Middleton, per the Daily Mail, but apparently the feelings were not mutual. Per a royal insider, "He had fallen for her in a huge way and wanted to be with her. He propositioned her several times that summer and although Isabella was single, she knocked William back and said it would be too damaging for her and her career." According to "The Making of a Royal Romance," Middleton was not exactly thrilled with William's crush on Calthorpe. Before the future Duchess of Cambridge reunited with the future Duke of Cambridge reunited, she supposedly told him he had to sever ties with Calthorpe.
Calthorpe wanted to be an actor, the career she worried wouldn't happen if she were to enter into a relationship with Prince William. Per her IMDb page, Calthorpe hasn't had a role since 2013, but we're guessing she doesn't need the money, as she's married to Sam Branson, the son of billionaire businessman Richard Branson, per the Daily Mail.
He ended things with Arabella Musgrave before university
Since they've gotten married, we've seen Prince William act as a perfect future king and a devoted father and husband, making it difficult to remember how he behaved before fully stepping into his duties and becoming a family man. His past included dating around, and falling in love with Arabella Musgrave, whom he had a relationship with prior to attending the University of St Andrews. The two split up, but according to "The Making of a Royal Romance," they stayed in contact while he was at school in Scotland.
Evidently, the royal did not take to college life like a duck to water at first. Per "The Making of a Royal Romance," Prince Charles and Lady Diana's eldest was ready to come home for good right after he started — but then met someone who would change his mind: Kate Middleton. The two struck up a friendship and, well, you know the rest of the story.
As for Musgraves? She is doing well herself. She married George Galliers-Pratt in a Gucci dress, per Vogue, and is Head of Communications – North Europe for the fashion house, per her LinkedIn profile. She's a queen in her own right.
Davina Duckworth-Chad is related to Prince William
Keep it in the family, eh? Historically it's not uncommon for royal families to intermarry, and the Duke of Cambridge once dipped his toe in that pond, reportedly by taking a cruise with Davina Duckworth-Chad, to whom he's distantly related. If you're a royal family fanatic and shiver at the thought of intermarriage, focus on the word distant, and keep in mind that the two didn't actually marry.
Duckworth-Chad is a second cousin to the late Princess Diana, Prince William's mother. According to People, her brother, James Duckworth-Chad, a few years after Davina and Prince William cruised together, was once hired by the palace to act as one of Queen Elizabeth's aides during her Golden Jubilee. If nepotism didn't get Davina title or access to the family jewels, at least it got her brother a job.
Per Tatler, today the ex-girlfriend of Prince William is married to Tom Barber, with whom she shares twin girls. Her life is largely spent outside the spotlight, a fate she wouldn't have had she married her cousin.