Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend has revealed that she feels ‘lucky’ their relationship was ‘short-lived’ because she couldn’t cope with constantly being in the spotlight.
Ex model and actress Florence St George, née Brudenell-Bruce, 35, who grew up in Fulham, south-west London, dated the Duke of Sussex, 36, for two months in 2011.
She went on to marry multi-millionaire Henry St George in July 2013. The couple spent lockdown in 2020 on the island of Grand Bahama – where Henry is vice-president of the Grand Bahama Port Authority – with their two children, Iris, five and Jimmy, three.
However, Florence has recalled the stress of her short time dating a royal, and told Stella Magazine: ‘A new story would appear almost everyday in the press, my school friends were interrogated and there were photographers outside my front door.’
‘I take my hat off to those people who can cope with that lifestyle, buy I knew I couldn’t.’
Florence St George, née Brudenell-Bruce, 35, dated the Duke of Sussex, 36, for two months in 2011 (pictured in 2012). She said she feels lucky the romance did not last because she couldn’t cope with the public scrutiny. Pictured, modelling for Knickerbox for new autumn/winter 09 range of saucy underwear
From modelling to pottery! In her twenties, Florence turned heads as a model, but she could not cope with the media attention that came with dating a royal
Florence, pictured in the 2010s, dabbled in acting as well as modelling, before turning to pottery
She added: ‘Although it was sad at the time, I feel lucky that the relationship was short lived.’
Back in 2020, Florence told the Times she found dating Harry ‘terrifying.’
‘When I glimpsed for five, six, seven days — we were together a bit longer than that but that’s how long it was in the press — what it was like to be under that focus I found it really terrifying and I made a decision quite quickly that it wasn’t the right thing for me,’ she told the publication,’ she said.
She added that dating in the spotlight resulted in her experiencing heightened anxiety.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit a local farming family, the Woodleys, on October 17, 2018 in Dubbo, Australia
The demure blonde had a few high-profile relationships before she married her husband. Pictured in 2011
The mother-of-two, pictured in 2008, dated the Duke of Sussex for two months in 2011 before marrying Henry St George in 2013
Florence St George said she feels lucky the romance did not last because she couldn’t cope with the public scrutiny. Pictured, attending the official launch event for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out at their New Bond Street Store on September 6, 2012 in London
Florence went on to marry multi-millionaire Henry St George in 2013. The pair share two children, Iris, five and Jimmy, two. Pictured in 2017
‘It left me with a total fear of the camera and anxiety, which I think was creeping in even before the postnatal depression,’ she said.
Florence also previously spoke of her PND diagnosis, which occurred after the birth of her daughter Iris, now five.
She said she had struggled to cope with how different her life as a mother was to her life before.
She went on to say that looking after her child made it harder for her to turn to the usual things that helped her balance her anxiety, which included yoga and jogging.
The ex-model revealed her family encouraged her to see her doctors after she experience several mood swings.
She was prescribed Prozac, which she said was a huge help, and began experimenting with pottery as a way to soothe herself.
She said pottery helped her feel like herself again, and said working with clay felt like therapy.
The model dated F1 driver Jenson Button from 2007 to 2008 and was often photographed with him, pictured
She revealed that when she got pregnant with her son Jimmy she chose to stay on Prozac, even though she struggled with guilt.
The mother-of-two said she did not suffer from PND when her son Jimmy was born, and that anti-depressants helped her cope when he suffered a pulmonary haemorrhage as a baby and was in a coma for two weeks.
She credited focusing on pottery for helping her to gently wean herself off Prozac over a two-year period.
Florence appeared on The Great Pottery Throw Down and made it to the midway point of the competition last year.
Now she regularly forages for her own clay and is currently busying herself making mugs and uploading Instagram tutorials to help other amateur enthusiasts.
Florence said pottery helped her overcome anxiety and wean herself off of Prozac after experiencing Postnatal Depression following the birth of her daughter
Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend revealed she was left with anxiety after finding being in the spotlight due to her high profile relationship ‘terrifying’. Pictured on The Great Pottery Throw Down
Well-educated and from a close knit family, Florence is the youngest of four children of Old Etonian wine merchant Andrew and his French wife Sophie.
Scouted by a model agency at age 15 coming out of Topshop, Florence finished her A-levels at Stowe school before going on to model in her gap year, landing a campaign for Adidas in America, vamping up John Lewis’ image with a swimwear campaign, and posing in Elizabeth Hurley’s designs.
She also completed a History of Art degree at Bristol University and has modelled collections for British brand Anonymous by Ross+Bute and Scottish knitwear brand Brora.
In 2009 she starred in Bollywood romcom Love Aaj Kal (Love These Days) as a Swiss love interest.
She also appeared in the TV detective drama Lewis where she had to lie in a morgue on a table with a silver sheet over her head.
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