Star Jenna goes all coy when asked about Harry
ACTRESS Jenna Coleman looked flustered yesterday when a TV presenter put her on the spot over her relationship with Prince Harry.
The former Doctor Who star, who plays a passionate young Queen Victoria in a new ITV period drama, squirmed after she was told: “We want him married off.”
Jenna, 30, looked decidedly awkward during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain when Kate Garraway raised the subject of pictures that appeared to show her flirting with the Prince after a polo match last year.
The pair are thought to have seen each other several times since then and there were unconfirmed reports that they had been dating.
“Talking about passion, there have been pictures of you and Prince Harry,” the presenter said as the actress began looking uncomfortable. “I’m assuming you were together for research, for the Royal Family?”
Tactile
Lowering her smile, the former Emmerdale actress replied: “No, he’s a friend of mine” before laughing politely when Garraway continued saying the public wanted to see Harry married.
Photographs taken at a polo party at Coworth Park, Ascot, in June last year showed Harry with his hand on Jenna’s knee.
At the time a source said: “It was a very flirty, very tactile encounter. She was leaning in to him and he had his hand on her knee. From their body language it looked like they were really enjoying each other’s company.
“They were sitting very close, laughing lots and touching each other.”
Harry, who has said he does not currently have a girlfriend, is in Malawi, southern Africa, working on an elephant conservation project. He will return to Britain next month.
Even though Jenna tried to brush off speculation about their friendship, bookmakers Coral reported a flurry of bets on the pair confirming they are an item, with odds of 5-1 that they start dating openly before the end of the year.
Nicola McGeady, spokeswoman for Coral, said: “Jenna looked extremely uncomfortable when asked about Prince Harry on Good Morning Britain which prompted a gamble on the pair admitting to being in a relationship.” Jenna told Good Morning Britain that the eight-part Sunday night drama about the young Victoria, which begins this weekend, did not shy away from steamy scenes featuring her and Prince Albert, played by Tom Hughes.
The drama’s writer, Daisy Goodwin, said: “I’ve tried to show that Victoria was, at the beginning of her reign, a bit of a party girl. She loved dancing, she liked men, she had sex.”