They were dubbed the new Harry and Meghan – the British aristocrat who married a raven-haired, Californian-born TV star who is vocal in her support of good causes.
But the marriage of Harry Roper-Curzon and Hanna Jaff is already over, I am sad to report, just 18 months after they tied the knot.
The pair had enjoyed a whirlwind romance, but appear to be unhappy proof of the adage, ‘Marry in haste, repent at leisure’, as they came to realise they barely knew each other at all.
Harry, the son of sculptor Lord Teynham and heir to the family’s magnificent 1,500-acre Pylewell Park in Hampshire, was introduced to Hanna in September 2019 through aristocratic pal Martha Sitwell.
Harry proposed on the ski slopes of Gstaad just two months later – and by February 2020 the couple were married.
Ill-fated: Hanna Jaff and Harry Roper-Curzon’s wedding day at Chelsea Town Hall last year. They were dubbed the new Harry and Meghan – the British aristocrat who married a raven-haired, Californian-born TV star who is vocal in her support of good causes
Despite their high profile on the social scene, the couple kept their wedding at Chelsea Town Hall, West London, a secret from their friends – perhaps to avoid anyone questioning if they were rushing into things.
‘It’s all a big mess,’ one close family friend told me. ‘Hanna and Harry are not even on speaking terms and now they’ve employed divorce lawyers to thrash it out. Thankfully there are no children involved.’
There were omens the relationship might have been cursed from the start. When Harry proposed to Hanna, who starred in the Netflix reality show Made In Mexico, he used a family heirloom – but the ring caused a rash on Hanna’s finger.
The 34-year-old, who was born in San Diego but grew up in Mexico, is proud of her work trying to improve the world.
On social media she urges her followers to undertake ‘simple acts of kindness and compassion’ along with messages supporting women’s rights, Black Lives Matter and LGBT causes.
‘She is like the Mother Teresa of Mexico,’ one friend told me. And on Instagram she recently posted that she’s become a Unesco ‘kindness ambassador’.
Hanna previously set up a charity called the Jaff Foundation, with the aim of helping poor children learn to read, but it has been inactive since 2017.
Somehow she managed to achieve an impressive educational record amid all her good deeds. Her CV on LinkedIn boasted that she studied at Ivy League universities Harvard and Columbia, as well as King’s College London and, impressively, The Sorbonne in Paris.
Despite their high profile on the social scene, the couple (pictured above) kept their wedding at Chelsea Town Hall, West London, a secret from their friends
Hanna downplayed her record, saying: ‘I studied French at The Sorbonne for four semesters [terms]’. And, curiously, since I spoke to her about her academic achievements last week, many have disappeared from her LinkedIn profile.
Harry, also 34, is a cousin of the Duchess of York and can trace his family tree back to the 9th Century. He now runs a high-end building refurbishment company. But one thing he won’t be rebuilding is his relationship with Hanna, I’m told.
‘There is no chance of a reconciliation,’ the friend says. ‘Relations soured after Harry went to visit her family in Mexico and he quickly realised they should have got to know each other better before they married.’
Last year this column reported that Harry’s father, Lord Teynham – also known as the sculptor David Roper-Curzon, was carving a bronze bust of Hanna.
So what became of it, I asked Lord Teynham. ‘I lobbed the unfinished bust into the pond on our estate,’ he replied.
That takes the biscuit, Rosie
Supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley knows how to live life on the edge – she’s just enjoyed her first biscuit… in two decades.
The former Victoria’s Secret model, who lives in LA with son Jack, four, and Hollywood action-man fiance Jason Statham, told fans: ‘I’m back in London this week and snacked on a McVitie’s Gold Bar for the first time in probably 20 years. WOW!’
Supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley pictured at the Tom Ford show, Arrivals, in Los Angeles, USA, in February last year
The former Victoria’s Secret model told fans: ‘I’m back in London this week and snacked on a McVitie’s Gold Bar (pictured above) for the first time in probably 20 years’
Presenters are chomping at the bit to get a regular slot on Good Morning Britain after the departure of fans’ favourite Piers Morgan. So spare a thought for Adil Ray, who looks to have already been cut from the line-up alongside Susanna Reid.
He had swooped in immediately following Piers’s exit in March, but has since seen his gig reduced to make way for other presenters, including money-saving expert Martin Lewis. Intriguingly, Adil tweeted on Thursday: ‘GMB tomorrow with Kate Garraway – could be my last one for a while.’
Show sources tell me Adil’s ‘woke’ persona didn’t resonate with viewers.
Edited by Joanna Bell
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