Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas has issued a fresh tribute to her late sister.
On Sunday, Bonas published a first-person editorial about her beloved half-sister Pandora Cooper Key, who died in July at the age of 51.
Cooper Key suffered from Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a rare hereditary syndrome that can lead to an increased risk of several types of cancer.
She was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of 26.
Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend shares fresh tribute following heartbreak
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Bonas, 35, dated Prince Harry from 2012 to 2014 after being introduced by his cousin, Princess Eugenie.
She wrote in The Sunday Times Style that she wished she could talk to Cooper Key about motherhood to sons, “as I’m also now the mother of a baby boy.”
Bonas married estate agent Harry Wentworth-Stanley in 2020, and they welcomed son Wilbur in 2022.
“A piece I wrote about my sister Pandora is in @theststyle today,” Cressida wrote on Instagram on November 17 below a photo of the story in the magazine.
Pandora Cooper-Key, the sister of Cressida Bonas, passed away in July
Instagram / Pandora Cooper-Key
“Life will never be the same without her, and sometimes it feels like she’s just gone on holiday, until I realise she’s not coming back.
“My sister gave so much love, she listened, she made people laugh and she was hugely loved In return.
“I hold onto the memories and the many things she taught me. I miss her. She was simply the best.”
The actress and model added a star emoji and linked her late sister’s Instagram handle.
Harry’s ex-girlfriend shared a heartfelt statement to her ‘darling sister’
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She thanked The Times and tagged charities The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust, which supports families navigating Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, and Sarcoma UK, the national charity focused on a form of cancer that Cooper Key had.
Bonas affectionately celebrated her sister in the essay, calling her the “leader of our pack” of their large family and recounting how their 15-year age gap disappeared in adulthood “as we became two loving friends.”
Cooper Key was a passionate ceramicist and former handbag designer for Vivienne Westwood.
Bonas said she faced Paget’s disease, sarcoma, “recurring episodes of cancer,” seizures and life-threatening infections with “courage, determination and humour.”
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Princess Eugenie and Cressida Bonas pictured together in 2017Getty
Cooper Key told The Mail in March that she had an inoperable brain tumour, and Bonas reflected in The Sunday Times Style about missing her on the journey of motherhood. Cooper Key is survived by her sons, Bow, 17, and Nestor, 14.
“In her final weeks, I felt like I was racing against time, wanting to ask her so much. Now that she has gone, I wish I could talk to her about raising sons as I’m also now the mother of a baby boy,” Bonas wrote.
“Her boys are teenagers and I’m just starting out with an almost two-year-old, so she had already walked the path that I’m beginning,” she added.
“I have a journal filled with scribbles and notes from conversations with my sisters. On one page, I had written down something Pandora said just after I’d given birth to a boy: ‘No matter what, they’ll always love and want to protect their mums.’ “