Teenage sweethearts are special no matter how much time has passed. Even when they are married and have “moved on” they still hold a special place in the heart.
This is the story of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and his former girlfriend Jessica Craig. The two began as teenage love birds after which they started spending a lot of time on her family’s estate at the foothills of Mount Kenya.
The two even entered into a “pretend engagement” and stayed close friends after they joined university.
According to The Telegraph, Jessica is the only woman to have precipitated an official bulletin about William’s love life. In 2003, Prince William’s staff issued a statement in which it was denied that the couple were involved in a relationship. They had never done this for any of William’s other alleged girlfriends.
Though each of them took a different path romantically, the echoes of teenage love was never truly silenced. And tomorrow, the 34-year-old Jessica will wed Jonathan Baillie, a conservationist who works at the Lewa Wildlife Reserve owned by her father Ian Craig, who founded the Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary where the family owns a cattle ranch.
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When Prince William’s cousin Peter Phillips was getting married in 2008, the Prince opted to witness Jessica’s brother’s wedding instead, missing out on his own family’s function.
“pretend engagement”
Could it be a coincidence that Prince William is in Kenya a day before Jessica’s big day? Even though the Prince met President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, yesterday where they discussed security and anti-poaching initiatives, his ex-girlfriend’s wedding ceremony is seen as the main reason he is in the country. He is, therefore, expected to attend the wedding at the Lewa Wildlife Reserve Ranch.
The location holds a special place in William’s heart. It is here where he entered into a “pretend engagement” with Jessica before coming back years later to propose to his then girlfriend Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge. It is this same place where his grandmother Elizabeth was when she found out she would be Queen.
The Duke of Cambridge, who arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday, will be spending the Easter weekend here in the tropics and away from his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and their children Prince George of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
His visit to the same breathtaking conservancy spot where he got engaged is being treated as a “private tour”. He is paying for the cost of his flights despite adding his presidential meeting to his itinerary.
The Lewa range where the Prince will witness his former flame and her lover say “I do” is the same spot he proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010 when they came to Kenya on safari.
The pair were enjoying a 24-hour stopover at the isolated log cabins when William popped the question right on the veranda of the cabin.
According to sources, the pair then enjoyed a bottle of champagne that had been cooled in a wooden cupboard. They then enjoyed a meal prepared by the resort staff.
There was a roaring fire steaming up the romance. After the charming moment, the two retired to their four-poster bed. It was a historic night.
