Prince Harry's ex Cressida Bonas breaks silence on personal loss after major life setback

Cressida Bonas, Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend, opened up about her grief after major life setback.

The 37-year-old has spoken in details for the first time about her heartbreak over watching her 'miracle' sister die from cancer, revealing how painful it was to lose her.

Pandora Cooper-Key died in July 2024 at the age 51 after a 26-year battle with the disease.

Cressida, in her exculsive, chat, also spoke about her 'adoration' for husband Harry Wentworth-Stanley, 36, and her 'frustrations' during her two-year romance with the Duke of Sussex.

Cressida laid bare the grief that has consumed her family since Pandora's death in conversation with psychotherapist Julia Samuel - a close friend of the late Princess Diana and godmother to Prince George - on the Therapy Works podcast on Wednesday, February 18.

'For 26 years, cancer came and then it went and came and it went,' she said.

Harry's formr flame went on: 'Different organs, different places. One was a sarcoma, the other was Paget's disease. And that's what she had to face, really, the majority of her life. And then she had a tumor that was inoperable and died. I hate saying the word. I find it really hard to say the word died.'

Pandora, a ceramicist and former accessories designer for Vivienne Westwood, suffered from Li-Fraumeni syndrome - a rare genetic condition that prevents the body from fighting off cancer. 

She was first diagnosed just five weeks after giving birth to her eldest son Bow, now 18.

Cressida said: 'To watch the most important person in your life die is just completely shocking. I don't think that you're prepared for that in the Western world.'

She praised her lates sibling a miracle because people would say, she won't survive, and then she did for years and years.

Cressida married property investor Harry Wentworth-Stanley in 2020 and they have two children - son Wilbur, three, and daughter Delphina, eight months.

She continued: 'A week later, we were having a coffee, and she suddenly said, I don't understand why none of you are crying."

She got emotional while revealing the bitter truth of her life, adding: 'And I said, oh, my gosh, we cry all the time. We just don't want you to see our tears, but we cry all the time.'

She also made public her sister's words as she said: 'Please don't hide your tears. You have to be truthful with me as I am truthful with you and we have to be in this together.'