Don’t invite exes to your wedding, Harry! My husband did… and she tried to seduce him on the morning of our wedding
FOR many brides-to-be, deciding on the guest list is a delicate balancing act - especially if your partner wants to invite their ex.
We recently told how Prince Harry has reportedly asked two of his famous ex-girlfriends to attend his wedding to Meghan Markle.
The Royal, 33, dated Zimbabwean beauty Chelsy Davy, 32, for seven years between 2004 and 2011, and Cressida Bonas, 29, for two years between 2012 and 2014.
But is it a good idea to allow a former flame to be part of what's meant to be the happiest day of your life?
It certainly wasn't for mum Afra Willmore.
The 48-year-old from Tring, Hertfordshire, told how her husband Ray, 55, asked his ex along to their wedding - and she tried to win him back on the morning of their ceremony.
Despite being rebuffed, she had the nerve to attend their ceremony AND the reception - though she didn't buy them a gift.
Afra explained: "Ray and his ex were only a couple for a few months, but they stayed friends and would go out to concerts and dinner together.
"She broke it off around a year before we met - she said she'd rather just be friends, which was why what she did on our wedding day was such a shock!"
Ray's ex was the first of his friends to meet Afra when they started dating.
"I could tell she didn’t like the look of me," Afra recalled.
"Every time Ray was around she was really nice to me, but he’d go to the bar and it was like her personality changed.
"She became quite passive aggressive, and made comments about what my plans were for Ray.
"I think she'd thought she had the ideal boyfriend - someone who took her out and bought her dinner, but she didn’t have to sleep with him.
"I kept telling him to go out with her on his own because she obviously didn’t like me. I can’t say I was entirely happy about it but I trusted him. I should have known not to trust her really."
When it came to their wedding guest list, Afra reluctantly agreed to let her come.
On the night before their nuptials, which was in the Midlands, Ray and his friends and family booked into a hotel in Dudley, while Afra stayed at her mum's house.
Having all gone out for dinner the night before, Ray and his party met up for breakfast on the morning of the wedding.
"During this, Ray's ex came over to him and asked if they could go up to his room as she wanted a word," said Afra.
"My husband’s a very trusting soul, so he said yes. Once in his room, she told him I wasn't right for him, and that he could do better. She revealed she'd split up with her boyfriend because she'd realised how she felt about Ray.
"Thankfully Ray said he didn't think he was making a 'big mistake', as she put it, and told her it was too late."
Afra joked that she would have done a better job of trying to seduce him if she'd been in his ex's shoes.
"If that had been me, I’d have put my best underwear on, bought a Chinese and big bottle of wine and gone round on one of the nights that I wasn’t around!" she said.
Ray decided not to tell his wife-to-be what had happened, and spent the ceremony terrified about what his ex might say or do.
"He was already nervous but it made him even more nervous because he thought something might kick off," Afra said.
"All through the service he was dreading that bit where they ask if anyone knew of any reason why we shouldn’t get married. He was just stood there thinking, ‘Oh God what if she says something?' He was absolutely terrified.
"Obviously it would have been really embarrassing, and he was probably worried I would have killed her!
"She didn’t say anything, but then she came to the reception. We had a receiving line where we shook everyone's hands as they filed into the reception, but she just stomped past.
"My mum said, ‘Who’s the woman with the miserable face?’ and I said, ‘Oh that’s Ray’s ex-girlfriend, she hates me, I’m not surprised, she’s probably not too happy to see us happy.’
"She sat through the whole meal and everything - though she didn’t buy us a present, probably because she thought the wedding wouldn’t happen!"
Afra didn't discover what had happened until almost a year later, when Ray's best man's wife let it slip.
She recalled: "Ray was in Russia at the time, and I rang him up saying, 'When were you going to tell me that I was nearly jilted at the altar?'
"I found it funny to be honest, because there was no harm done, and I can see why he didn’t tell me - I’m quite fiery!"
The couple haven't heard from her since, bar a Christmas card that was addressed purely to Ray - which went straight in the bin.
Afra said: "We still laugh about it now. It's a long-running joke - the other day I had my old lady coat on and a bobble hat, and he looked me up and down and said, ‘Maybe I should have gone for her!’
"But 26 years and seven children later, I don’t think he made the wrong choice!"
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Speaking about Harry's decision to invite his exes, Afra said: "I think on the whole it’s fine if you’ve both agreed on it – they weren’t just girlfriends, they were very much part of that ‘set’. It might have seemed like a snub if he didn’t invite them.
"I just hope they don’t have the same experience as us!"
Prince Harry and Meghan will get married at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19.