For a modern British royal, it truly seems like Prince Harry can’t stop reliving the past. After all, he has already written a memoir in which he relitigates much of the drama that he had with his famous family over the years. Similarly, his Netflix show often threw tidbits of family drama to viewers to spice up what is meant to be a simple look into his daily life with Meghan Markle and her children.
Now, Prince Harry’s latest trip into yesteryear has come in the form of a court case against Mirror Group Newspapers, whom Harry believes hacked into his devices over the years to dredge up info about his personal life. But that has meant revisiting some of the details of his personal life, including a brief-lived relationship with Love Island host Caroline Flack, and details have now been revealed that the public has never before heard.
Just what was Harry’s relationship with Caroline like? How did the press drive them apart, and where does Meghan Markle fit in? Keep reading to find out!
What was the relationship like between Harry and Caroline?
The first thing you should know about the “relationship” between Prince Harry and Caroline Flack is that it was effectively over before it got started. Back in 2009, the two were planning to meet up at the home of Prince Harry’s friend Mark Dyer. But due to the presence of paparazzi (more on this in a minute), the date was interrupted, and neither Harry nor Caroline ever tried to pick it back up.
In fact, Flack was very frank about this fact when she appeared in an interview with This Morning. “I’ve never said that I had a relationship with him,” she said before pointing out she didn’t say so in her autobiography, either. The message was clear: if she really did have a steamy relationship with Harry in secret, the blunt television star surely would have told the world in her book.
RELATED: Stunning Royal Revelations From Prince Harry’s Court Testimony
Their time together was married by paparazzi
How, then, did Harry and Caroline’s potential relationship get disrupted by the paparazzi? As reported by The Guardian, the two thought they had a very discreet meeting planned and that Mark Dyer’s home would be a safe place to link up, especially because he was Harry’s close friend. But Harry described being ambushed by paparazzi in the last place he would expect: “They were hiding underneath a car.”
At that point, the damage was already done. Tabloids ran endless pictures of the two together and speculated as to the nature of their relationship. Ironically enough, though, this rampant speculation ended up killing their relationship before it could properly begin.
How the headlines impacted her life
Like many of Prince Harry’s run-ins with the tabloids over the years, the incident with Caroline Flack ended up disrupting his life and harming his reputation with both his family and the world. However, it’s clear in retrospect that Caroline actually received worse treatment after the paparazzi’s photos began appearing in papers all around the world.
That’s because even though she wasn’t rich or famous like her royal would-be beau, she was a well-known television personality. Therefore, the endless tabloid headlines and speculations ended up affecting her life and career in profound ways, especially because the prevailing narrative was that she was trying to seduce Harry as a way of climbing the social ranks. In her autobiography Storm In a C-Cup, she would later write, “I lost my identity. I was no longer Caroline Flack, TV presenter, I was Caroline Flack, Prince Harry’s bit of rough.”
Things eventually got so bad for her that she stopped working for a time and even had to hide at a friend’s house to avoid the roaming eyes (and cameras) of the paparazzi.
RELATED: How Prince Harry’s New Book Casts Shade On The Royal Family
An early wedge between Harry and those closest to him
Harry’s reputation was less hurt by this incident than hers…or, more cynically speaking, Harry was already such a magnet for trashy tabloid headlines that he effectively had less of a reputation to lose. However, as Harry recently shared in court, the entire incident seriously shook his trust and faith in those around him.
Even back then, Harry was no stranger to avoiding the press and keeping details of his life private, which is why he had planned a date with someone at a friend’s house rather than, say, a public venue. As reported by Us Weekly, he testified that “Given the fact that only the three of us knew the plan, I was highly suspicious and convinced that someone had leaked the information to the press.”
Later, he came to believe that the press got the info from the voicemails of one of the parties involved. Still, the damage was already done when it came to his relationships: “The impact these kinds of stories had on my relationships cannot be underestimated. Even those I trusted the most, I ended up doubting.” Notably, it would be seven more years after this incident that Harry would begin dating Meghan Markle, showcasing how long it took him to fully trust someone with his heart.
Will Harry finally get the justice he is so desperately seeking?
Since all of this involves incidents that happened in the past, some have questioned what Harry is hoping to accomplish with this lawsuit. However, there is at least one person that believes Harry is doing the right thing on behalf of countless other victims of the paparazzi. That person is Caroline Flack’s mother.
Tragically, Caroline passed away in 2020, but her mother recently spoke out about Harry’s current lawsuit. According to The Evening Standard, she discussed how the paparazzi also disrupted the life and relationship of her daughter, and she is fully supporting Harry’s current endeavor. “I think Harry is doing it for everybody … and I think he is very brave because he is getting such an awful lot of stick as well,” she said.
RELATED: Wildest Rumors About Prince Harry And Meghan Markle That Ended Up Being True