Lady Zoe Warren, friend of Kate Middleton and Prince Harry, reveals she went into perimenopause in her 20s and was warned it would be ‘tricky’ to have children after being kicked by a horse as a child

Lady Zoe Warren, Royal Ascot acquaintance of the Princess of Wales and friend of Prince Harry, has revealed that she was told it would be ‘tricky’ for her to have kids after a childhood accident left her with only one ovary.

Zoe, 40, the wellness guru wife of Princess Diana‘s godson, horse breeder Jake Warren, was kicked in the stomach by a horse at the age of nine and required an emergency operation to remove a kidney and ovary.

‘I had been told that it was going to be tricky for me to have children,’ she told The Times.

The yoga teacher, who is the daughter of the 14th Earl of Galloway Andrew Stewart and Sara Pollock, has had to contend with a number of health issues since the accident.

Zoe developed cysts on her remaining ovary in her teens and, by the time she was a student at Newcastle University, she was suffering with severe perimenopausal symptoms – though she didn’t know it at the time. 

Wellness guru Lady Zoe Warren (left) pictured with Kate Middleton on the second day of Royal Ascot on June 15, 2016

Speaking to The Times, she was candid about the hot sweats, brain fog and insomnia which blighted her early twenties.      

‘I had a combination of hot sweats every couple of minutes but no idea why, my anxiety was huge, there was brain fog and a lack of concentration, severe insomnia. And then recurrent UTIs [urinary tract infections],’ she said.

But despite suffering with symptoms that were unusual for a woman of her age, it wasn’t until she was 28 that she was told that she was perimenopausal – probably because it is very unusual amongst women under 30. 

Although Zoe ‘felt relieved’ to have received a diagnosis, she admits that she ‘still didn’t have a clue’ about what her body was going through. 

Zoe, who was treated with HRT [hormone replacement therapy] and testosterone, has told how she also learned to help herself with ‘movement, mindfulness and other ways outside of standard medication.’

Amid her struggles with perimenopausal symptoms, Zoe was able to conceive. At 30, she gave birth to twins India and Zalie, who, as Prince Harry’s goddaughter, was a bridesmaid at his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018. Her youngest, Coco, followed four years later.

Now, keen to help others, the mother-of-three runs a subscription service called Peachy with Zoe, which offers a wide array of wellness advice as well as yoga classes and workshops. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Zoe raised thousands of pounds for the NHS through her online yoga teaching. 

Zoe, 40, pictured with her horse breeder husband Jake Warren, the godson of the late Princess Diana

Zoe and Jake’s daughter Zalie (right) is Prince Harry’s goddaughter and was a bridesmaid at his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018

Zoe, daughter of the 14th Earl of Galloway, became a lockdown hero after raising thousands for the NHS through her online yoga lessons

The philanthropic yogini requested charity donations in return for her weekly virtual classes, with society friends such as Daisy Hambro and the Princess of Wales’ best friend Sophie Snuggs taking part. 

‘A lot a lot of us try to run from our negative emotions and we do things that numb them,’ she said, speaking to The Times back in 2021. 

‘So we avoid them. It’s part of being human, and yet they’re seen as negative, and we’re encouraged not to look at them. Whereas if we do, it gives them less power.’

Zoe, who admits that she’s a ‘worrier’ and can ‘overthink things a lot,’ went on to say that while she hasn’t suffered ‘unduly’ from anxiety, she experienced some time in her twenties where she was ‘trying to be someone else.’

She continued: ‘That gets exhausting. Maybe the older you get, the less you try and perform — and that becomes so freeing, to just be yourself.’

‘You want to be the same person to your children as you are to your friends. When someone is authentic, there’s instant trust.’  

Zoe went on to say that anyone who advocates awareness of mental health is ‘brilliant’ – adding that ‘everyone’s voice is worthy’ whether you’re ‘well known or not well known.’ 

The yoga enthusiast, who didn’t reference Prince Harry directly, said: ‘I completely think that anyone who is advocating awareness of mental health – it’s brilliant. Whatever anyone can do.

‘Everyone’s voice is worthy, isn’t it? Whether you are well known or not well known. Everyone’s story is worthy.’ 

She added: ‘And so yes, I think it is really important. I wish everyone luck with all they do when people are trying to create more contentment, more awareness.’ 

When Prince Harry’s five-part AppleTV+ docuseries focusing on mental health, The Me You Can’t See, was raised she explained that she didn’t know anything about it. 

During the episode, the Duke of Sussex dropped another nuclear ‘truth bomb’ on the Royal Family accusing them of ‘total silence’ and ‘neglect’ when Meghan was suicidal.

He claimed his father Prince Charles made him ‘suffer’ as a child and insisted he would not be ‘bullied into silence’ when he alleged ‘The Firm’ ‘trapped’, smeared and dumped them.