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Headlines have declared that dating is dying a death. The apps, by all accounts, are awful, and Gen Z have tried to salvage it by vowing ‘not being attached to an outcome’.
So does romance even exist? Is anyone still falling head over heels? In high society and A-list circles it’s a hard yes.
Thanks to a summer jam-packed with sporting and music events, there’s been plenty of opportunities for staring longingly in VIP areas and for fledgling couples to show us they really can’t keep their hands off each other.
Take Glastonbury, where headliner Dua Lipa seemed inseparable from Callum Turner after her headline set. While at the Euros, fashion girl Iris Law became 2024’s answer to Posh Spice when she was spotted cheering on England player Trent Alexander-Arnold.
So as it finally hots up (literally), here are the new pairings in the throes of summer romance. Perhaps we can glean some lessons in love.
Sophie Turner and Peregrine “Perry” Pearson
The backstory: After an autumn well-spent on friend dates with the likes of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively following her divorce from Joe Jonas earlier in 2023, rumours began to swirl that Sophie Turner was dating aristocrat Peregrine “Perry” Pearson by December. The heir to the 4th Viscount Cowdray, who has previously dated King Charles III’s goddaughter Princess Maria-Olympia, is well known in society circles.
After the pair were spotted together several times in West London and in Paris (they don’t call it the city of love for nothing), in January Turner made things Instagram official by sharing photos of Pearson amid a ski trip carousel. Meanwhile that month, a source told Us Weekly they were “getting fairly serious”.
Their summer romance: As well as being spotted in Capri together on an Italian adventure in May, the couple have proved they’re now firmly integrated into each other’s lives, getting papped with friends and family. On Pearson’s part, he appeared to have made it into Turner’s squad, as he joined the Game of Thrones star last month at the final night of Taylor Swift’s three sell-out shows at Wembley. They then met the singer and the rest of her entourage to party at Chiltern Firehouse. And most recently, Turner has been spotted several times at Pearson’s family’s West Sussex estate, Cowdray Park, where they’ve been cosying up on the sidelines of polo games, and he has even been photographed giving Turner a piggyback. Clearly they are smitten.
Iris Law and Trent Alexander-Arnold
The backstory: Iris Law has plenty of big brand modelling credentials under her belt, so it’s no surprise that it was on a fashion shoot for Guess that she met England and Liverpool football player Trent Alexander-Arnold. That was in April, and since then, they were then spotted on a series of coffee and dinner dates in London. Who needs Raya?
Their summer romance: Signs that there might be something serious between nepo baby Law (she’s the daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost) and Alexander-Arnold came when they were spotted having lunch at the luxury Italian restaurant Cipriani in Monaco before the Grand Prix, and then a party on a luxury yacht in the exclusive Port Hercule. Their It couple status was then all but confirmed when she was spotted cheering Alexander-Arnold and his team on at the Euros. We imagine she was also a shoulder to cry on after the final.
Poppy Delevingne and Archie Kenswick
The backstory: Given her previous relationship was with a member of the former Greek royal family, Prince Constantine Alexios, it’s no surprise that socialite Poppy Delevingne is dating one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. It’s the title that was given to her current partner, billionaire businessman Archie Kenswick, by Tatler in 2019. He is the scion of the multi-billion-pound Jardine Matheson empire, no less. And he also has a famous ex, having dated Sienna Miller previously.
In April, the pair were said to be getting serious, and not long after, it was confirmed when pictures were posted online of Kenswick joining Poppy to meet her dad Charles Delevingne for lunch in Notting Hill’s Michelin-starred Dorian restaurant.
Their summer romance: So far the couple’s summer schedule has included a day at Hyde Park’s BST series for SZA’s headline set, where they looked loved-up wandering around in complementary couples’ looks at the festival. Kenswick is said to be a lover of house music, according to Tatler, so eyes peeled for more gig sightings of the pair.
Dua Lipa and Callum Turner
The backstory: It’s definitely Dua Lipa’s year. Between releasing her hit album, Radical Optimism and receiving rave reviews for her headline Glastonbury set; her career is flying. But she’s also found time for romance. She was first linked to actor Callum Turner in early January, after being seen at the premiere after-party for his Apple TV+ series, Masters of the Air — where they were seen slow dancing. Cute.
They haven’t confirmed how they met, but given Lipa told Rolling Stone that she dates people, “either through friends of friends or people you trust where you can meet new people, because [dating] is not really so straightforward when you are, I guess, a public person,” we can safely assume it was IRL.
Quickly the pair were spotted indulging in plenty of PDA, from kissing during a Hollywood dinner date to arriving at the BAFTAs after-party holding hands. It should all be nauseating but somehow it’s not.
Their summer romance: Most recently the actor-pop star power duo proved that festivals are yet another place their romance thrives, as they were spotted arm in arm all over Glastonbury. Turner had shown up to support Lipa’s Friday headline slot and an Instagram carousel showed him kissing her tenderly on the head as they walked through the fields in the early hours. We imagine it’s a lot easier to feel amorous at Worthy Farm if you have VIP accommodation.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Ben Seed
The backstory: Rumours have swirled for some time now about Daisy Edgar-Jones having found herself a nice Northern lad, though many were disappointed to learn it was not in fact a secret relationship with her Normal People co-star Paul Mescal. However, it seems she’s found a good guy in Ben Seed, a photographer whose Instagram feed she featured on way back in June 2023.
Their summer romance: Proof the pair are officially loved up seemed to come in the form of Edgar-Jones posting a Glastonbury album which finishes with a shot of her and Ben with their arms wrapped around each other (he goes by Pip, according to Instagram). A source has said they also “love hanging out in Broadway Market in East London, just going to bars and spending time together.” They added that, “There’s a real spark there and they are excited about finding each other. They’ve already met one another’s friends and she is on cloud nine.” We’ll take that to mean that Paul approves.
And who’s officially off the market?
It’s wedding season after all. These are the couples who are gearing up for one, are maybe, possibly *already* married and the society couple who had the nuptials of the summer.
Alexa Chung and Tom Sturridge
The backstory: No strangers to summer frolicks, it was at Wimbledon where It girl Alexa Chung and actor Tom Sturridge first went public with their relationship, sharing a kiss in the stands. And controversially; they were papped mid-smooch sitting behind Sienna Miller — Sturridge’s ex and the mother of his daughter Marlowe. Though it’s said to be all love between the three of them. Miller who is now with actor Oli Green, said of their situation to Vogue last year: “It’s genuinely very loving and cosy and great. It’s ideal. It’s incredible. We are very lucky.”
Several months ago rumours began to circulate that the pair were engaged — and in May, Chung finally posed with her ringed finger on display at Bistrotheque restaurant’s 20th birthday in East London.
Their summer engagement: The couple are expected to get married this summer, having been together for two years. They’re said to be planning a small wedding with close friends.
The couple haven’t been spotted together much this summer so far, with Sturridge missing their usual annual Wimbledon outing (Chung sat beside Joe Alwyn), so perhaps they’re pre occupied with big day planning. The fashion will be fabulous.
Charli XCX and George Daniel
The backstory: Charli XCX, real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison, has been dating The 1975 drummer George Daniel since 2022. They are thought to have first crossed paths at the GQ Awards in 2019 and then collaborated on the track Spinning in 2021. After working together on her 2022 album, Crash, as well, they were spotted holding hands for the first time. Fast forward to last November, and they were engaged.
Their rumoured summer wedding: Charli has been spotted wearing two rings on her engagement finger and in June, Daniel referred to her as his “wife” in an Instagram post of the Brat album cover, on which he collaborated on two tracks. “What a campaign, what an album, what a life, what a wife,” he wrote. Did they get married in secret?! We are none the wiser.
Though what we do know is they’re obsessed with each other. At Charli XCX’s Partygirl Glastonbury set (which was harder to get into than Soho House’s rooftop pool in a heatwave) she brought on her fiancé (husband?!) and had the thousands of ravers “give it up” for his guest appearance multiple times. Because if anyone knows that people screaming in your honour is the ultimate affirmation it’s Charli. It is Brat summer after all.
Duke of Westminster and Olivia Henson
The backstory: Hugh Grosvenor, aka the Duke of Westminster (once named Britain’s most eligible bachelor), met low-key Olivia Henson through friends. They got engaged after two years of dating, when the Duke proposed at Eaton Hall in Cheshire.
Many know Grosvenor as the richest man in Britain under forty. He owns 300 acres of London with a cool £10.42 billion under his belt. Plus he’s godfather to sons of both the princes; William’s Prince George and Harry’s Archie. While Henson remains pretty off the radar in terms of her digital footprint, she is known to work for a food ingredients company in London, and went to the same Gloucestershire school as the Princess of Wales.
The summer wedding: With the Duke’s royal connections and a reputation for throwing a lavish party — thanks to an epic 21st birthday party in 2012, which reportedly cost £5 million — preceding the wedding, his and Henson’s big day was highly anticipated. And there was plenty to thrill onlookers who gathered in the street outside Chester Cathedral; Prince William acted as an usher and the bride was a vision in a sleek custom dress and veil designed by Emma Victoria Payne. Afterwards their reception took place at Eaton Estate, the family’s home since the 1400s with 11,000 acres of parkland. There are few details of the party, but it’s all the more proof that it was the society wedding of the year.
