Prince Harry and Cressida hit slopes at Kazakh ski resort: Couple enjoy 'private holiday' at luxury chalet

Although enthusiasts might not choose it as the go-to place to hit the slopes, Kazakhstan has a cold winter which ensures it has powdery snow until late in the season, according to www.dailymail.co.uk. The holiday will fuel further speculation that Prince Harry and Miss Bonas, a dance graduate who works in theatre marketing, are becoming more serious about each other.

Earlier this month, the couple enjoyed a rare public outing together at Twickenham to watch England defeat Wales at rugby. Other dates include trips to high street burger chain Byron and the Cirque du Soleil production of Quidam at the Royal Albert Hall. In a step that proves how their relationship has matured, Miss Bonas has been invited to co-host a formal dinner with Harry in the Queen's rooms at St James's Palace. The prince is to host a private dinner party to honour the war heroes he trekked to the South Pole with before Christmas.

The Shymbulak resort - set among dramatic peaks that separate China from the Russian steppes - has only one main slope. It is frequented by wealthy Russians, many of whom are in the country as part of the oil and gas trade. Skiing is too expensive for most Kazakhs, many of whom still work in heavy industry that is the legacy of the Soviet system. The couple may have chosen their skiing destination with help from Prince Andrew - who developed strong links with the former Soviet state in his capacity as Britain's special trade representative. Andrew sold his home in Ascot to a tycoon from Kazakhstan and is a frequent guest of the country's president Nursultan Nazarbayev with whom he goes goose-hunting.

Miss Bonas - the granddaughter of the 6th Earl Howe, whose title dates back to 1788 - boarded at £30,000-a-year Stowe School in Buckingham and is the daughter of Old Harrovian Jeffrey Bonas.

Her mother Lady Mary Gaye has had an unconventional lovelife. Her five children are by three of her four husbands, all divorced. Her fourth husband, financier Christopher Shaw, died in January aged 76. Cressida comforted her mother at his funeral, but Prince Harry was not seen in attendance.

Harry was previously involved in a turbulent seven-year relationship with Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy until 2011. A spokesman for the Prince declined to comment, saying any trip would have been a ‘private holiday'. But royal sources confirmed the couple had been away together.