Prince Harry

London, Dec. 11: A good few years have passed since the wobbly latex men on Spitting Image released a record whose chorus, to universal playground acclamation, ran: ?I?ve never met a nice South African!?

We?ve all now met a nice South African or two. And Prince Harry, we learn, has met a very nice southern African: sturdy, sun-tanned, Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy, 19, who is being described as his ?first true love?.

Their relationship, according to reports, has been going on for eight months, and Harry is said to have spent the last fortnight of his polo-playing trip to Argentina living with her in a remote lodge, 55 miles from Buenos Aires.

Harry?s brother, too, found love in Africa, with Jessica ?Jecca? Craig, the Kenyan safari park heiress he fell for on his own gap year.

There are some ? mostly wispy English girls with transparent skin and a crush on the younger prince ? who regard Chelsy with suspicion. ?She can?t even spell her own name!? sneer these nasty Anabels. ?She looks like Jade Goody off Big Brother!? they shriek, the sound rebounding from their giant front teeth down their chinless necks.

?She?s awfully stout in the legs,? they murmur. Royal romance, under the eyes of the world and the expectation of producing an heir, has never been a walk in the park. But for this generation of royals it is more difficult than ever.