Why are we still asking Cressida Bonas about her ex-boyfriend?
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- Jessica Rapana
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The actor, model and podcast creator has revealed why she is done talking about her ex-boyfriend, Prince Harry – and frankly, we don’t blame her.
It’s been six years since Cressida Bonas and Prince Harry broke up.
That’s three times as long as they dated in the first place.
Both have well and truly moved on. She is engaged to her university boyfriend, Harry Wentworth-Stanley, while Prince Harry is married and has a child with Meghan Markle.
Which is why it is baffling – not to mention, insulting – that Bonas is still being asked about Harry in interviews six years later.
In an interview this week, Bonas was asked, yet again, about Harry.
Once again, she was forced to politely decline to comment, this time, hinting at her frustration at the conversation constantly being brought back to her ex.
“No one likes to be labelled,” Bonas told the Evening Standard. “The hurdles for me are when I’m trying to do my work and people want to talk about him. I work very hard and love what I do but this is still something I have to contend with.”
Once again, she was forced to fend off questions about the royals, this time: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement that they are stepping down as full-time working members of the royal family.
“I wouldn’t take a position on that because it would be a headline,” Bonas responded. “Also out of respect. It feels like a long time ago. When it comes up it feels strange because I’m in a different place.”
Predictably, even this non-comment comment has been miraculously spun into a headline by several tabloids. The Daily Mail, for example, led with: “Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas says she respects Meghan Markle”.
While this never-ending tendency to whittle down a woman’s achievements to her love life is hardly surprising, it is – in 2020 – disappointing.
Despite what such tabloid titillation would have us believe – Bonas is talented in her own right. She is currently starring in The White House Farm, ITV’s new crime drama that tells the story behind the horrific real-life killings in 1985.
She has already received rave reviews for her performance in that series as Sheila, a schizophrenic who was framed for the killings. In fact, Sheila’s real-life former husband, Colin Caffell, praised Bonas, saying on breakfast television that it was “quite shocking” to see his wife being portrayed so accurately.
On top of that, Bonas also has a podcast coming out.
The soon-to-be-released podcast, called “Fear Itself”, is inspired by Bonas’ own struggles, diving into how being scared has “held me back but also pushed me forward”.
“I have anxious thoughts and I was afraid of failure,” she told the Evening Standard. “I started writing these fears in a journal and thought it would be interesting to make a recording about them, talking to people about fear and how it can motivate them.”
Sounds interesting, no? And yet, you wouldn’t know any of this – her praise-worthy performance or her debut podcast – because all anyone ever asks her about is that guy she dated in 2014.
Image: Getty