Cressida Bonas struggled to conceive for two years (Picture: ITV/REX)
Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, has opened up about her difficulties trying to conceive.
The actress, 33, dated the Duke of Sussex – who is now married to Meghan Markle – from 2012 until 2014.
Princess Eugenie introduced the former couple, but they split amicably in April 2014, with Cressida attending the Prince’s wedding as a guest in May 2018.
Cressida then married Harry Wentworth-Stanley in 2020.
The pair welcomed their first son into the world last month after undergoing fertility treatment, but the Tulip Fever star has revealed the two years leading up to his birth were ‘frustrating,’ as they tried desperately to work out why she was unable to conceive.
She wrote in an essay for The Sunday Times newspaper: ‘Looking back on those two long years of trying to conceive, I wish I had been kinder to myself and understood that I didn’t need fixing.
Cressida Bonas dated Prince Harry from 2012 until 2014 (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
The couple split in 2014 but reports say it was an amicable decision (Picture: Joanne Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)
‘After endless tests, my husband, Harry, and I were told that the only explanation was that there wasn’t one…
‘It became frustrating when we were told by specialists that there was nothing fundamentally wrong. I wanted something to blame.’
She later received the ‘all clear’ from an HSG test (hysterosalpingography), which involves dye being flushed into the fallopian tubes to see if they are blocked.
This allowed the couple to try ‘a couple of rounds of IUI’, which involves sperm being injected int o the uterus.
‘But they failed. Why?’, Cressida asked.
Cressida was then a guest at Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018 (Picture: Netflix)
‘Was it because I ran to that meeting after the procedure? Was I over-stressing about learning lines for an audition? Was I doing too much exercise? Maybe I wasn’t doing enough exercise?’
She added that her mind ‘was on a constant worry loop’ as her ‘obsession with getting pregnant became overwhelming.’
‘I considered everything I ate and drank — no sugar, gluten, alcohol or caffeine. I’d wake up at 3am worrying about my dairy intake. I was tired and hungry.’
The ‘desperate’ star splurged on alternative therapies and even psychics and ‘healers’ in her bid to get pregnant.
The actress says her mind was ‘on a constant worry loop’ as she couldn’t understand why she wasn’t getting pregnant (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
The star is now a proud mum to her baby boy, born in November (Picture: Instagram/cressida_bonas_)
She wrote: ‘I wrote a diary. I can see from this how desperate I was. I spent time and money on reflexology, nutritionists, acupuncture and psychics, even a German healer who speaks to angels.
‘I read books that said if I listened carefully, the spirit of my unborn baby would visit me in my dreams — I heard nothing, not a squeak.’
She explained that she was even told to get drunk on champagne before smelling a baby’s head – a method she brands ‘creepy’ – and to go on the paleo diet.
Cressida Bonas describes herself as ‘very lucky’ for having so much support and then being able to start a family (Picture: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)
‘But no matter how many Mystic Megs I saw or expensive supplements I took, nothing was working, and I felt as if my body was failing me. Out of ideas and without answers, we turned to IVF.’
Cressida will always be thankful for the support she received from others going through similar experiences.
She described herself as ‘very lucky’, having given birth to her baby boy in November.
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However, she notes that, ‘very often’, the path to pregnancy is a ‘silent struggle.’
‘But through my experience, I have learnt the importance of community. Whatever the shape or form of that community — online forum, WhatsApp group or creative cohort — having a space to unravel and share is perhaps where we can regain our confidence and power.’
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‘I wish I understood that I didn’t need fixing.’Â
