GIRLFRIEND WHO NEVER WAS

[kasper]

ffrom:  pwc (thanks to stevie)

DAILY MAIL, June 16, 2003

GIRLFRIEND WHO NEVER WAS

RICHARD KAY

Prince William took the extraordinary step yesterday of publicly
denying that he loves a girl with whom he was said to have made
a 'pretend engagement'. St James's Palace issued an unprecedented
statement in which he insisted he was not and had never been
romantically involved with 21-year-old Jessica 'Jecca' Craig.

William was said to be 'deeply embarrassed' by the claims because he
is close to her family - particularly her father, Kenyan-based
conservationist Ian Craig - and because he is a friend of Jessica's
Old Etonian boyfriend.

But his response served only to intrigue royal observers, who asked:
Are courtiers going to deny

William is involved with every girl whose name comes to the surface?
Intriguingly, an aide said: 'If and when Prince William gets his
first serious girlfriend, we will work out something to say.'

There are four more girls, however, who have been repeatedly
romantically linked to the prince without any official reaction from
St James's.

They are Davina Duckworth-Chad, who joined William on a cruise four
years ago, his St Andrews flatmate Kate Middleton, fellow student
Bryony Daniels and statuesque blonde Natalie Hicks-Lobbecke.

No statements were rushed out about them, so no wonder friends of the
prince were rather puzzled last night.

Stories of a romance with Jecca surfaced in weekend newspapers,
including the Daily Telegraph which reported that it was 'an open
secret that he had a fairly serious fling' with her during his gap-
year trip to Kenya two years ago.

The two were said to have enjoyed 'one of those teenage pretend
engagements'.

Yesterday it was claimed the couple had been conducting a secret long-
distance relationship ever since. Jessica is due to attend William's
21st birthday party at Windsor Castle on Saturday where she can
expect to be presented to the Queen and Prince Charles.

Intriguingly the theme for next week's celebration is 'Out of Africa'
with everyone, including the Queen, going in fancy dress.

So who is this attractive, leggy girl for whose good name William was
prepared to ask St James's Palace courtiers to intervene?

JECCA Craig is a popular face in Kenya's so- called Happy Valley set,
most of whom are the offspring of well-heeled farmers and
conservationists born and bred in Africa.

She grew up on the Lewa conservancy, a wildlife reserve her father
created on the 55,000 acres his family have tamed and farmed since
1922. It is on the Laikipia plateau, Kenya's last great untamed
wilderness, stretching from the Great Rift Valley to the slopes of
Mount Kenya.

The Craig family is steeped in the traditions of conservation and
environmental management in east Africa. Jecca's older brother Batian
was named after one of Mount Kenya's highest peaks.

Despite the huge distances involved, well-off white farmers and their
families still flit around the country in small aircraft, visiting
friends, enjoying parties, shooting animals and relaxing on the big
empty beaches.

Jecca was educated at Pembroke House, a boarding school near Gilgil
in the Great Rift Valley. Yesterday a school friend recalled her as
popular and good looking.

'She has always had an awful lot of admirers, which is perhaps hardly
surprising for a slim, sporty blonde.

'Jecca is very striking indeed and it makes sense that William would
be attracted to her. She has had a few boyfriends, as you would
expect, but nobody approaching the status of a future king.

'Pembroke House is a very small school. Quite a few of the kids
worked either for or with Jecca's father. But she never had any airs
and graces. She is a lovely, down-to-earth girl.'

William is thought to have met Jecca in 1998 during one of his first
trips to Africa, but become close to her during his gap-year travels
in early 2001, when he was a guest of the Craigs.

According to St James's Palace, the prince has returned only once
since then - for a holiday in August last year. But he remained close
enough to Jecca to invite her both to his party and as his guest to
his cottage on the Balmoral estate which the Queen gave him as a
bolthole from his studies at St Andrews University.

William has made no secret of his love for Africa. He has told his
father that he would love to buy a home in Kenya and is thinking of
returning there for an extended visit - perhaps for as long as a
year - after completing his degree.

It was during his gap-year visit that William became close to
Jessica's father. 'What makes these claims about him and Jecca so
embarrassing to him personally is because of his relationship with Mr
Craig,' said a friend.

'He feels they suggest he took advantage of the family's friend-ship
and it just simply isn't true. He is especially incensed at the

notion that the two contracted some kind of engagement.

'He feels that other girls who have been linked to him the past have
been able to take care of themselves, but Jessica doesn't live in
this country and is unused to this kind of attention. She is very
upset.'

Other sources say Jessica was rather taken with the handsome young
prince who adored his days on the safari reserve.

DURING his visit William became keenly involved in rhino
conservation, tracking poachers and checking on animal movements and
Jessica was often around.

He also rode alongside elephant herds, swam in isolated lagoons and
enjoyed tribal dancing.

Last night, however, Jecca's father laughed off stories of a
romance. 'Jecca and William are friends from a long time back and it
is as simple as that,' said Mr Craig from Kenya.

A spokesman for William said: 'St James's Palace denies that there is
or ever has been any romantic liaison between Prince William and
Jessica Craig.'

The aide added that the claim that the pair had a 'pretend
engagement' came as an embarrassment to Miss Craig because she
already has a boyfriend.

The palace also denied reports that Jecca was staying at the
Highgrove estate in preparation for William's 21st birthday next
week. Indeed, it said, there were doubts whether Jecca would even
attend William's birthday celebrations at all.

Additional reporting:

RICHARD PRICE