How Prince Edward Became One Of The Royal Family's Most Important Figures — FULL DOCUMENTARY

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: His brother, King Charles, had made him the new Duke of Edinburgh. [00:00:04] Speaker 2: A very special and slightly overwhelming day for now my wife of the Duchess. [00:00:13] Speaker 3: It certainly wasn't Edward's destiny to be Duke of Edinburgh. It's a weighty title, it's an important and historic title, and of course most people associate the Duke of Edinburgh with the late Prince Philip. [00:00:24] Speaker 4: Edward hasn't had the prominence of his siblings, or indeed William and Harry, because of where he is in the line of succession. [00:00:33] Speaker 1: On Prince Philip's death in 2021, his titles passed to his eldest son Charles. But Edward revealed in a BBC interview before Charles became King, that it was Philip's wish for him to inherit his dukedom. [00:00:47] Speaker 5: What Philip was saying, of course, was not telling Edward you're going to become Duke of Edinburgh. What he was saying was, I want Charles to make you Duke of Edinburgh. [00:00:57] Speaker 6: The title was created for Philip. It was very special. It was something that he treasured and he wanted to give to Edward, not to his other sons. [00:01:07] Speaker 1: Charles' decision was undoubtedly in recognition of the closeness between father and son. [00:01:12] Speaker 6: I don't think any royal commentator expected Charles to go against the wishes of his father. I think also it was a way for the royal family to say, you know, he's going to be important in the way that his father was. [00:01:26] Speaker 3: He would have done it, I'm sure, wanting to reward his brother for all of his years of duty and service and loyalty to the crown. [00:01:33] Speaker 1: The honour also reflected the remarkable rise of Edward and his wife Sophie and their growing importance as working royals. [00:01:42] Speaker 7: It must have been really difficult for Edward to give up his dreams, his ambitions to become a full-time working royal, but I do think it was the making of him. [00:01:50] Speaker 5: Go back to, say, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 2012. We all remember that. Who was up on the balcony? There was no room for Edward and Sophie in those days, and yet here we are now, and suddenly he's almost like the great hope for the next stage of the royal family's evolution. [00:02:08] Speaker 1: But Edward and Sophie haven't always found it easy being part of the firm. [00:02:13] Speaker 4: The idea that Meghan is the first person to have problems marrying into that family is obviously nonsense. [00:02:19] Speaker 7: When it was revealed that Edward was first going out with Sophie Rhys-Jones, he felt intolerable pressure and intrusion into their relationship and into his privacy. [00:02:28] Speaker 8: He's made mistakes, he's become the butt of numerous jokes, but he's come out of it. [00:02:34] Speaker 1: And with the death of the Queen and Prince Philip and the departure in recent years of so many senior royals, it is Prince Edward who has taken on ever more royal duties. [00:02:45] Speaker 4: Charles always wanted to slim down the monarchy, but it sort of slimmed itself down without him having to do anything. [00:02:50] Speaker 5: Everything changed, really, because of the Harry decision to go overseas and what's happened. We're a scandal over Prince Andrew. [00:02:59] Speaker 6: It's now imperative that we give this very senior, very important title to the prince who remains, the prince who isn't causing a problem, the prince who we can rely on. [00:03:13] Speaker 1: Edward and Sophie's strong partnership make them an asset to the new king. [00:03:18] Speaker 7: It's essential for Charles to have senior working royals like Edward and Sophie out there, front and centre, working hard, showing why the royal family is still relevant. [00:03:31] Speaker 5: And in the absence of Harry and Meghan, well, Edward and Sophie are the new Harry and Meghan. [00:03:37] Speaker 1: As a new chapter in the royal family begins, it will be Prince Edward, the late Queen's youngest child, who will be thrust into the limelight. [00:03:46] Speaker 5: When he was born, he was third in line to the throne. It was never very likely that he was ever going to have this major role. [00:03:52] Speaker 1: But all that has changed in the past couple of years. [00:03:55] Speaker 3: He's pretty hardworking and has just gotten on with the job quietly without making too much fuss. [00:04:01] Speaker 1: But that wasn't always the case. There were many disasters in his younger days, as he grew from a pampered prince to an unpopular royal. [00:04:09] Speaker 6: Royal princes don't leave the military, they do their duty, but Edward didn't. [00:04:13] Speaker 4: If there is one cringe moment in the history of the modern British royal family, it's a royal knockout. [00:04:23] Speaker 1: On 10th March 1964, a small but expectant crowd gather at the gates of Buckingham Palace. [00:04:30] Speaker 9: About an hour ago, we got the first news that the Queen's fourth baby might be born tonight. [00:04:35] Speaker 1: At 8.20pm, the news that they had been waiting for arrived. Prince Edward, her youngest child, had been born. [00:04:43] Speaker 7: The Queen always referred to Andrew and Edward as her second family. [00:04:47] Speaker 3: When the Queen came to the throne, of course, she was a young woman with two young children. [00:04:52] Speaker 5: She didn't have much time, quite frankly, for motherhood with either Charles or Anne. [00:04:57] Speaker 3: Edward and Andrew had a completely different childhood. They were spoiled in a way that Charles and Anne simply weren't, because they had their parents' time and attention. [00:05:07] Speaker 1: The Queen gave birth to Edward when she was 37, and she decided that this time she was going to do things differently. [00:05:15] Speaker 5: She knew that this was going to be her last child, and she wanted to enjoy his childhood and those early years as much as possible. [00:05:23] Speaker 4: He probably did get special treatment, but the baby of the bunch always does, don't they? [00:05:28] Speaker 1: And when it came to advice about parenting, it's claimed that the Queen got some of her information from an unusual source. [00:05:36] Speaker 5: The Queen was also someone who was an avid reader of women's magazines and took a huge interest in new ideas. [00:05:44] Speaker 7: She wanted Prince Philip there at the birth, and he, as the modern man that he was, was happy to agree. [00:05:52] Speaker 6: When Philip decided to be in the birth of Edward, that was revolutionary. I mean, in previous generations, that had never happened. [00:06:01] Speaker 1: As well as attending the birth, and in contrast to how he was with his two older children, Philip would become a very hands-on parent. [00:06:09] Speaker 6: Prince Edward was his father Philip's favourite child, simply because Edward arrived at the point at which his father decided to be much more involved with his children. [00:06:21] Speaker 5: Philip would read bedtime stories, some of which he made up himself. Philip would help decorate the nursery where Edward slept with model ships and aeroplanes. [00:06:32] Speaker 3: He made sure his schedule was structured so that he could be there to help with tea time, bath time. [00:06:39] Speaker 7: Apparently, Nanny Mabel always slightly feared when Prince Philip would come up to the nursery. Because he'd kind of rough and tumble with the kids, and he'd be wrestling with Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward would be jumping on top of him. And then Nanny Mabel would struggle to get the kids down to sleep. [00:06:53] Speaker 6: For most of us, a father being involved with the day-to-day care of a baby and a toddler, there's nothing strange about that. But in the royal family, that was quite something. [00:07:03] Speaker 1: The Queen and Prince Philip's close relationship with Edward was captured in this remarkable fly-on-the-wall documentary. First broadcast in 1969, it provides an intriguing glimpse of the young Prince Edward. [00:07:16] Speaker 4: The 1969 documentary Royal Family really was a peek behind palace doors. [00:07:22] Speaker 5: And at one stage, there's a memorable moment when he's up close with his big brother, Charles, who's laboring over the cello. [00:07:30] Speaker 8: One of the strings breaks and it catches Edward. And you can see his lips are, you know, trembling. [00:07:40] Speaker 5: And here you have this boy doing his utmost not to lose it, not to cry in front of the television. And it's a magnificent example of grace under pressure, if you like. [00:07:51] Speaker 4: Some of the nicest stuff is with the Queen and a very young Edward, just out sweet shopping, which is a nice, normal scene with a film crew in tow. [00:08:08] Speaker 5: The take-out from it for a lot of people was how normal and well-adjusted Edward had been. And I think that's a lot to do with the fact that Philip and the Queen spent much more time with him as he was growing up. [00:08:21] Speaker 1: The documentary also showed the close bond between Edward and his father. The Royal Family documentary was a ratings hit and was seen by more than 30 million people. However, some felt it had been a mistake to grant such unprecedented access. [00:08:39] Speaker 8: I believe it was a strategic mistake. It was the beginning of the end of any kind of magic. [00:08:46] Speaker 4: The big debate over it is the mystique. Do you think there should be any mystery about the Royal Family? And once you sort of open the door, can you ever really shut it? [00:08:57] Speaker 8: Once you let daylight into that magic, it is a slippery slope. [00:09:01] Speaker 1: Concerns that the documentary may have diminished respect for the monarchy meant it has not been rebroadcast in its entirety for over 40 years. Edward's next public performance would be in 1972 when he started prep school. [00:09:17] Speaker 5: Andrew wasn't a great success at school, but Edward actually was. He was quite academically bright. [00:09:23] Speaker 1: The Queen had had to leave the education of Charles and Anne in the hands of others. But she was determined to be more involved in Edward's schooling. [00:09:32] Speaker 8: Heatherdown Prep School was near Windsor so he could see his mother, the Queen, more often. [00:09:38] Speaker 5: The Queen suddenly found herself going regularly to school meetings to meet his teachers, collecting him at the weekends, driving him there and back. I mean, highly unusual for a monarch to have done anything like that. [00:09:54] Speaker 1: Edward's prep school started his lifelong love of the theatre. [00:09:58] Speaker 8: It was whilst he was at Heatherdown that he apparently caught the acting bug. [00:10:04] Speaker 5: He appeared in a school production of The Wind and the Willows and he played Mole and he got very warmly applause, applause led by the Queen. [00:10:13] Speaker 8: He seemed to have gone down a storm and so he was seen as a bit of a rising star in the family. [00:10:20] Speaker 1: After prep school, Edward followed his older brothers to Gordonstoun, his father's former public school. And controversially, Edward was accepted into one of the country's top universities. [00:10:34] Speaker 5: He got into university having scraped through three or four A-levels. I mean, he didn't have what would be the normal threshold to get into Cambridge. [00:10:45] Speaker 4: It's fair to say that the royals don't have to go through the clearing process like the rest of us. They definitely get a special treat. [00:10:52] Speaker 1: At Cambridge, Edward threw himself into student life. He was active in the University Drama Society and organised the student rag week. [00:11:00] Speaker 2: Anyway, if you're in good company today, you have probably the most professional crawlers in the world. [00:11:11] Speaker 3: He wasn't massively academic. Where he really excelled was on the stage. [00:11:17] Speaker 5: I think Edward was a competent actor rather than someone who was going to be marked out as a potential Hollywood star. [00:11:26] Speaker 1: And despite his love of the arts, the career Edward decided on after university was to join the Royal Marines. [00:11:33] Speaker 6: Edward, from the earliest, from when he was, you know, he was probably sort of eight or ten, he was absolutely adamant that that would be his military career. [00:11:44] Speaker 7: There was a real sort of sense of that naval tradition in the men of the Mountbatten Windsor family. [00:11:51] Speaker 4: The Royal family is a military family and specifically a naval family. The Royal Marines, of course, are the fighting soldiers of the Royal Navy. [00:11:59] Speaker 7: Edward was very athletic and very sporty. [00:12:02] Speaker 1: The Royal Marines had sponsored Edward's tuition at Cambridge on condition that he serve five years with the regiment. But much to everyone's surprise, Edward quit after just four months. [00:12:19] Speaker 3: His decision to quit was very, very controversial. [00:12:22] Speaker 6: The Royal Princes don't leave the military, they do their duty, but Edward didn't. [00:12:26] Speaker 5: His training officers had no doubt he had the physical strength and resource to complete what is said to be the hardest military training in the world. [00:12:36] Speaker 4: The truth is he wasn't enjoying it, not because he couldn't do it, but because he couldn't enjoy everything else that went with being with the Royal Marines in Devon. [00:12:47] Speaker 7: What was required of him to be absolutely devote yourself all in to become a Marine was just for him and in antipathy to being a prince. [00:12:58] Speaker 1: Edward's decision to leave the Marines prompted a storm of criticism. [00:13:02] Speaker 6: The newspaper smelt blood. Edward couldn't hack it in the Marines. I mean, what a great story. [00:13:07] Speaker 1: And it wasn't just the national tabloids that were outraged. [00:13:11] Speaker 5: He was ridiculed by his former Marine colleagues who just called him soft and thought he, you know, he wasn't up to it. And he had a bit of a tough time within the Royal family too. [00:13:22] Speaker 7: It was the Queen who apparently viewed it in a very, very dismal light. She said she thought it was a dereliction of duty. [00:13:33] Speaker 1: Although he had disappointed his family with his decision to leave the Marines, Edward received support from an unexpected quarter. [00:13:41] Speaker 7: This was deeply personal for Prince Philip because he was Captain General of the Royal Marines. [00:13:46] Speaker 5: It was well reported then that Philip in particular was furious with his son, that he'd sort of let him down and let the family down. In fact, the opposite was true. [00:13:57] Speaker 1: Edward's father found a very public way to show his support. [00:14:01] Speaker 3: Just days after Edward had left, father and son were pictured going to church together at Sandringham. [00:14:08] Speaker 6: The Royal family very rarely do something where they're not aware of its significance or how it will be seen by the public. [00:14:15] Speaker 3: To have his father there supporting him was a really big step on Philip's part. And I think all went into really cementing this very, very close relationship between father and son. [00:14:27] Speaker 6: Philip was very supportive and he cleverly turned it round by making it very clear to everyone that he thought it was a very brave decision. [00:14:36] Speaker 3: It was quite a surprise and something of a reversal of roles for the Queen to be really quite upset at Edward's decision to leave and Philip to be understanding. [00:14:45] Speaker 1: If Edward's dropping out from the Marines was unprecedented for a member of the Royal family, what he did next would break even more Royal conventions. [00:14:55] Speaker 6: After Edward left the Marines, I think because he was a bit of a lost soul, he thought, I've got to do something, a spectacular, something big. [00:15:04] Speaker 7: I think Edward was struggling a little bit to find a purpose, to find a role. [00:15:08] Speaker 1: Edward decided to produce a television charity event involving his family and various celebrities. [00:15:15] Speaker 3: It's a royal knockout in 1987 was Edward's sort of first real foray into TV production. [00:15:22] Speaker 7: Edward decided that he, Prince Andrew, the Duchess of York, Fergie and Princess Anne would captain four teams that would compete against each other at Alton Towers, all dressed up in Tudor regalia. [00:15:37] Speaker 4: The idea was to have some fun, some silly competitions, based on It's a Knockout, which was a big TV hit in the 70s and 80s. [00:15:46] Speaker 1: It's a royal knockout was watched by 18 million people in the UK and made £1.5 million for charity. But it was not the success Edward hoped for. [00:15:56] Speaker 4: If there is one cringe moment in the history of the modern British royal family, it's a royal knockout. [00:16:03] Speaker 7: Certainly in the pantheon of great royal mess-ups, this is absolutely up there. [00:16:08] Speaker 4: If you want to remove the mystique of the royal family, get them dressed up in fake medieval costumes and then have a big knockabout competition outside in the pouring rain. It just had PR disaster written all over it. [00:16:21] Speaker 1: But worse was to come in the interview after the filming. [00:16:24] Speaker 10: First of all, I have to apologise if I go to sleep at the beginning of this. [00:16:28] Speaker 1: When Edward was met by a less than enthusiastic press pack. [00:16:33] Speaker 5: He'd invited the press and the media to come along because he thought we'd all write wonderful, glowing pieces about what a brilliant idea this was. But unfortunately, when we got there, we were barred from actually seeing anything. [00:16:48] Speaker 10: I know the captains have enjoyed themselves. I only hope that you've enjoyed yourselves. Have you? Well, thanks for sounding so bloody enthusiastic. What have you been doing in here all day? [00:17:04] Speaker 11: Have you been watching it? Yeah. [00:17:08] Speaker 10: What did you think of it? [00:17:13] Speaker 2: Thanks. I thought it was great. [00:17:15] Speaker 12: Then the royal walkout. He's reported to have said as he left Alton Towers, one of these days, you lot are going to have to learn some manners. [00:17:24] Speaker 5: And of course, that forever became the story, the petulant prince who throws his toys out of the pram. It did present an extraordinary insight into Edward's character at that time. And the pratfalls of being a member of the royal family and getting involved in light entertainment. [00:17:42] Speaker 1: It's a royal knockout provoked a storm of negative publicity. But things got even worse when Edward started his own TV production company. Over the next decade, he would continually be in the papers for all the wrong reasons. [00:17:57] Speaker 6: Ardent Productions, in many ways, was the peak of the embarrassing things that Edward did. It was just hopeless. [00:18:04] Speaker 1: And while Edward's career lurched from one PR disaster to another, he was at least luckier in love. [00:18:11] Speaker 8: Edward and Sophie were friends for many years before they fell in love. [00:18:16] Speaker 2: We managed to have a good laugh about things most of the time. And we happened to love each other, which is the most important thing. [00:18:23] Speaker 1: In June 1999, Prince Edward married his long-term girlfriend, Sophie Rhys-Jones. [00:18:29] Speaker 11: Among the thousands of people lining the streets are visitors from all over the world. [00:18:34] Speaker 3: I think the world had an expectation of what this wedding was going to look like, having seen Diana and Charles's at St. Paul's, having seen Sarah and Andrew's. [00:18:42] Speaker 4: It was at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, which we now know also. Harry and Meghan got married there. Charles and Camilla had the blessing there. [00:18:50] Speaker 6: They did set a precedent. I think, you know, in a way they're kind of trailblazers for more modest events. [00:18:55] Speaker 1: Edward and Sophie might have had a reason for wanting a different kind of royal wedding. [00:19:01] Speaker 6: They opted for a much quieter wedding. And I think that was partly because they were already thinking, we want to have a life partly in the royal family, but also outside the royal family. So we're not going to make this a huge thing. [00:19:18] Speaker 8: Edward and Sophie were friends for many years before they fell in love. [00:19:23] Speaker 4: One of the things that Edward was attracted to was the normality of Sophie Rhys-Jones, which, you know, she's not a European princess. She's not an Aristo. [00:19:33] Speaker 1: Sophie Rhys-Jones was a middle-class professional who ran her own successful PR company. [00:19:39] Speaker 13: Did I ask you what qualities you think you both bring to this relationship? We managed to have a good laugh about things most of the time. [00:19:49] Speaker 2: And we happened to love each other, which is the most important thing. A great sense of humour, very important. It's very important in this world. [00:19:54] Speaker 3: Edward was acutely aware that, as a commoner, for want of a better word, there were real challenges that Sophie faced. [00:20:01] Speaker 4: We have to remember the 1990s was a really rocky decade for the royal family. There was all sorts of stuff going down, many divorces. [00:20:10] Speaker 3: Don't forget, he'd watched Andrew's marriage with Sarah ultimately crumble to see what had happened to Charles' marriage with Diana. [00:20:18] Speaker 7: There was insatiable interest in his love life. He felt intolerable pressure and intrusion into their relationship. [00:20:25] Speaker 1: In December 1993, newspaper editors across the country received an extraordinary missive from the prince. [00:20:34] Speaker 6: Edward wrote a very heartfelt letter to the press, actually in quite restrained terms, just asking that his private life and Sophie's private life should be treated as private. [00:20:46] Speaker 9: I'm taking this unusual step of writing to you directly in the hope of stopping your reporters and photographers from destroying that part of my life that I'm entitled to regard as private, and more importantly, Sophie's life. [00:20:57] Speaker 1: This plea for privacy was later echoed by his nephew, Prince Harry, when he sent a similar letter to newspaper editors over coverage of his relationship with Meghan Markle. [00:21:08] Speaker 8: But where that approach, I think, differs from, say, Harry's approach to protecting Meghan, is that Edward was conciliatory. [00:21:18] Speaker 5: Edward, by contrast with Harry, was much more restrained, but there were moments when he complained bitterly about intrusion into his life. [00:21:27] Speaker 1: Edward and Sophie dated for several years and had to contend with relentless media pressure to announce their engagement. [00:21:34] Speaker 3: Edward sort of said he didn't want to hurry into it. He wanted to make sure that Sophie knew this was the life that she wanted to live, because it is a life that involves sacrifice. [00:21:43] Speaker 6: When he was pressed once by the journalists to say when he was going to pop the question to Sophie, he just snapped at them. [00:21:51] Speaker 2: I'm not saying anything at all. I'm going to keep quiet, and if everybody stops asking me the question, then who knows what might happen. And how does Sophie Rhys-Jones, how does she manage in this goldfish bowl that you talk about? [00:22:03] Speaker 6: Does she find it very difficult? [00:22:04] Speaker 2: Well, I can't speak for her. [00:22:07] Speaker 6: So I think he's irascible. He snaps a bit, just like his father, but he doesn't hold a grudge. I don't think he's not going to make it, you know, something that continues forever, the way Harry just can't let go of it. [00:22:18] Speaker 1: When Edward did announce his engagement to Sophie in 1999, it did little to stop press intrusion. [00:22:25] Speaker 3: Sophie's found herself on the wrong side of the tabloids more than once, but I think probably the most humiliating was just weeks before their wedding. [00:22:34] Speaker 4: There was a topless picture of Sophie, which had been taken privately by friends at Capital Radio years before, and someone gave that photo to a newspaper, which printed it on the front page. [00:22:48] Speaker 3: On this occasion, Edward wasn't going to sort of sit back. He took action and made an official complaint to the Press Complaints Commission, which was upheld. [00:22:54] Speaker 1: As well as intrusion into their private lives, Edward and Sophie would continually attract negative headlines as they tried to combine their royal duties with independent careers. [00:23:12] Speaker 7: There are parallels between Sophie and Edward and Harry and Meghan. I mean, Sophie and Edward were the forerunners of trying to balance their royal careers with actual money-making careers. [00:23:23] Speaker 1: In 1993, Edward set up a television company, Arden Productions. He was the first senior royal to have a career outside the firm. [00:23:32] Speaker 6: Arden Productions, in many ways, was the peak of the embarrassing things that Edward did. It was just hopeless. [00:23:46] Speaker 1: If the journalist sounded surprised at Edward running a TV company, it's probably because up to this point he had very little media experience. After he left the Marines and the debacle of its royal knockout, he'd taken a job in theatre. [00:24:00] Speaker 4: Edward got a job at the really useful company, Andrew Lloyd Webber's company, and the joke was that he was the tea boy. So, for the photo call at the first day of work, of course, he turned up with the tea bags. [00:24:14] Speaker 14: Today, reporters wanting to know what the Prince would actually do got the answer from his new boss over the stage door intercom. [00:24:21] Speaker 15: It's the lowest rung on the learning process of working in theatre, and he will have no status whatsoever. He will not be using him in any PR capacity. [00:24:31] Speaker 5: He'd learnt the rudiments, if you like, of the business, and he thought he'd spotted a niche in the market. He wanted to present and make his own documentaries. [00:24:41] Speaker 1: Edward's only other experience was limited to this BBC documentary. The Duke's Award was a programme about his father's Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. It also showcased Edward's awkward interactions with the public. [00:24:57] Speaker 8: Presenting on television is an art. Edward clearly had very little of that. [00:25:03] Speaker 5: You can't be, on the one hand, mating Edward, and the Queen's son, with all the stars and honours that go with it, on the other. And I think that was another problem that he had. He was trying to straddle two worlds. [00:25:16] Speaker 1: And it wasn't just Edward's presenting skills which created problems. [00:25:20] Speaker 6: He promised at one point that he wouldn't use his royal connections to make any films or TV shows. [00:25:26] Speaker 4: The problem for him was that people were only commissioning, or only wanted to commission, programmes about the royal family. [00:25:32] Speaker 6: In fact, he made a great series of programmes that were entirely based on the royal family and his connections. [00:25:40] Speaker 7: As a member of the royal family, there's lots of things you might not want to talk about, or you can't talk about, or you can't do. You're really, really restricted, and you can't be impartial. [00:25:51] Speaker 1: As his career in television struggled to take off, Edward faced increasing criticism that he was using his royal status to try and help his ailing business. [00:26:01] Speaker 7: He thought he would have got plenty of work, being the Queen's son, and would have been able to win any number of contracts. It didn't stand in his favour. [00:26:11] Speaker 3: He wanted it to work, he needed it to work, and he became increasingly frustrated when it didn't. [00:26:17] Speaker 5: Obviously, that was one of the great issues. Was he exploiting his royal family connection to make money? And on the surface, it seemed almost certainly he was. [00:26:27] Speaker 11: Prince Edward's new marriage status means extra responsibility. He's now using his Windsor connections to earn cash for his own company, raising eyebrows for breaking royal practice. [00:26:37] Speaker 16: Edward is emerging as one of the great bleaters of our times, and he is inheriting his father's mantle for putting his foot in it. [00:26:45] Speaker 17: Following this week's barrage of press criticism, he and the Countess of Wessex will have to tread extra carefully to show that they do know where to draw the line between private and royal business. [00:26:55] Speaker 5: And it wasn't just Edward, it was also his wife Sophie, who had a PR company, and there were questions being asked about how she was using her name, which raised a lot of unease within the royal family. [00:27:10] Speaker 1: In 2001, Edward and Sophie were caught in two separate scandals, which effectively ended their careers. Sophie was duped by Mazza Mahmoud, the now discredited undercover reporter for the news of the world, known as the fake sheikh. She was secretly recorded making indiscreet remarks about the royal family. [00:27:31] Speaker 17: Sophie allegedly called the Queen an old dear, and said Charles and Camilla were waiting for the Queen Mother to die before they married. [00:27:38] Speaker 1: While these alleged remarks were embarrassing for the royal family, it was Sophie's insinuation that her royal ties were good for business that was the most damaging. [00:27:47] Speaker 17: It's this comment which has caused particular concern in royal circles. It's known Prince Charles had previously warned about Sophie's potential conflict of interest. [00:27:56] Speaker 3: You got the spotlight on the Wessexes sort of for all the wrong reasons, and this big question being thrown up. Can you have working royals who are representing the Queen and Crown and cashing in on their own independent projects? [00:28:10] Speaker 1: Just five months later, Edward and his company Ardent would be embroiled in an even more embarrassing scandal. [00:28:17] Speaker 3: One of the nails in the coffin for Ardent, without a doubt, was its decision to stay up at St Andrews and continue filming Prince William. [00:28:26] Speaker 5: The media and the palace had hammered out this agreement that, in exchange for access from time to time, both princes would be allowed to enjoy their school and university life untroubled. But somehow, Edward didn't get the memo. [00:28:42] Speaker 1: The world's media were invited to film this footage of Charles and William at university, after which the press and photographers left St Andrews. [00:28:51] Speaker 18: The university says it was Prince William who spotted the film crew on the campus. They were ordered off in a complaint lodged with Prince Edward, but the camera team later returned to film near the student residence. [00:29:03] Speaker 7: When Charles found out, he absolutely hit the roof, because, of course, it went against that agreement that he had with the press. [00:29:08] Speaker 16: Well, it's all incredibly funny, isn't it? I mean, here you have the national tabloid press, staying well away from William, honouring every agreement and pledge, only to have his privacy invaded by Uncle Edward. [00:29:20] Speaker 5: And it was an absolute humiliation, and one, really, from which Ardent never recovered. [00:29:26] Speaker 2: What did he say, sir, about your company? No, I haven't. Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed. No, we've said all that's being said, and I don't think there's any dissenting war. Thank you very much. [00:29:34] Speaker 1: At the beginning of 2002, it was announced both Edward and Sophie would be giving up their careers to become full-time working royals. Edward made the surprise announcement at the start of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. [00:29:48] Speaker 7: The Queen effectively asked Edward and Sophie to give up their careers and to become full-time working royals. And as an effective sweetener, she gave them £250,000 in compensation, if you like. [00:30:03] Speaker 2: I always knew in the back of my mind that one day things would have to change. Well, that day has come. And it's not just for me, but also for my wife. [00:30:14] Speaker 3: I think you can draw parallels absolutely with the Sussexes. Harry also wanted to strike out, do things a little bit differently. And just as Edward found, you know, these parameters are quite rigid. They don't really barge and kick against them too hard, and you get badly wounded in the process. [00:30:31] Speaker 1: Some observers believe returning to the royal fold has strengthened Edward and Sophie's relationship. Next year, Edward becomes the first of the Queen's children to celebrate his silver wedding anniversary. [00:30:44] Speaker 7: I think it's hugely significant that Edward is the only one of the Queen's children not to divorce. [00:30:51] Speaker 3: She ultimately had to give up that independence in order to make this marriage work, in order to become a successful working royal. [00:30:59] Speaker 7: Queen Elizabeth regarded that marriage was a marathon, not a sprint. The fact that Edward and Sophie's marriage has endured and seemingly a happy marriage was a source of great happiness to her. [00:31:11] Speaker 3: It is the ultimate love story because Edward has stood by her through all of those decisions. He made sure he protected her. [00:31:17] Speaker 1: While Edward and Sophie might have been reluctant royals, they have now fully embraced their position within the firm. [00:31:23] Speaker 5: And Charles recognises that they've completely transformed themselves and are able to do an important job for him and for the monarchy. [00:31:32] Speaker 6: He's made mistakes when he was younger, but he's actually learned from those mistakes, which is not true of all the royals. [00:31:38] Speaker 1: In 1903, not long after becoming a full-time working royal, Edward takes on an even more important role when he becomes a proud parent. [00:31:47] Speaker 7: On those big family occasions, when we see Edward and Sophie with James and Louise, it's clear that they are a really happy, successful family unit. [00:31:57] Speaker 1: King Charles III's coronation, and joining him on the palace balcony, the royal family, the embodiment of this new era. [00:32:06] Speaker 5: That was a balcony of working royals. It really thrust a fierce beam of light, if you like, on Edward and Sophie. [00:32:16] Speaker 3: They're supporting the king. They're joining those key players centre stage. [00:32:21] Speaker 4: Edward's been the understated royal for so many years, but it's clear from that balcony scene that he really is part of the core team now. [00:32:29] Speaker 1: Edward also secured a prime seat at the coronation concert and was happy to join in the laughter when surprised by an unexpected guest. [00:32:38] Speaker 12: Good evening, your majesties. Good evening, Windsor. [00:32:45] Speaker 7: The film at the Frog popped up, it showed that Edward's got a really good sense of humour. He's very up for taking the mickey out of himself. [00:32:51] Speaker 8: And I think we sort of associate Edward with somebody who could take a joke, having been the butt of one so many times in the past. [00:32:59] Speaker 1: In 2002, Edward and Sophie became full-time members of the royal family. And a year later, the couple's first child, Louise, was born. Sophie had been rushed to hospital for an emergency caesarean while Edward was abroad on royal business. [00:33:15] Speaker 2: I've seen Sophie. She's doing well. She's also had a bit of a fraught time with it, but she's recovering well, I'm glad to say. [00:33:22] Speaker 7: I think Edward, as much as possible, has tried to be a very modern dad. Of course, he couldn't be there for his daughter's birth, but he absolutely was there for his son's birth. [00:33:31] Speaker 1: Edward and Sophie's second child, James, was born four years later in 2007. And Edward seems to have been determined to be a very hands-on parent. [00:33:43] Speaker 3: I think the fact that Edward had such a loving, secure and happy childhood because he had so much of his parents' attention, he has wanted to echo that. [00:33:53] Speaker 7: He's been there at sports days, at speech days, for graduation, for his daughter's A-levels. He and Sophie took Louise for her first day at St Andrews. [00:34:03] Speaker 1: Edward's own grounded upbringing prepared him for becoming a more down-to-earth royal. [00:34:09] Speaker 5: One of the remarks he once made was, I want to be treated for what I do, not for who I am. [00:34:15] Speaker 6: Edward and Sophie are relatable in a way that most of the other royals are not, simply because he makes it very clear that ordinary life appeals to him. [00:34:25] Speaker 1: And Edward, the modern father, made one decision for his children, which would have the greatest bearing on their lives. [00:34:33] Speaker 5: The most important thing Edward did when his children was born was not saddle them with HRH titles, so neither his son nor his daughter are his or her royal highness. [00:34:43] Speaker 6: Edward's role as a parent is really interesting because I think he is trying to enable his children to do what he was unable to do. [00:34:53] Speaker 5: He took a leaf out of his sister Anne's book, who famously gave Peter and Zara Phillips, her two children, no title at all. It enabled them, and it continues to enable them, to have very straightforward, ordinary lives. [00:35:08] Speaker 1: And he wasn't afraid to show his emotions when family tragedy struck. [00:35:13] Speaker 5: We remember how he spoke after Prince Philip's death, very warmly about his father. [00:35:19] Speaker 2: It's been a bit of a shock. However much one tries to prepare oneself for something like this, it's still a dreadful shock. And we're still trying to come to terms with that. And it's very, very sad. [00:35:31] Speaker 4: Clearly, it was a very dear relationship with Edward. Becoming the new Duke of Edinburgh was part of that public expression. [00:35:38] Speaker 5: There was no one who had more influence on Edward than his father, Prince Philip. He was an immense character, a larger than life figure. [00:35:45] Speaker 4: And it's clear, you know, they had a very close bond, as he did with, in different ways with all of his children. [00:35:51] Speaker 1: In 2017, when Prince Philip retired, it was Edward who took over many of his father's charities, including the most well-known, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. [00:36:01] Speaker 3: Back in 1956, the Duke of Edinburgh established the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which was a way of getting young people out into nature, doing challenges. [00:36:10] Speaker 6: It was his baby, he promoted it, and it was really, really successful. It's been praise to the skies for helping young people. [00:36:18] Speaker 3: Edward went on in 1986 to complete his Duke of Edinburgh scheme and came away with a gold badge. And this was a joy for Prince Philip. He was absolutely delighted by it. [00:36:29] Speaker 5: Edward and Philip had a marvellously close and deeply affectionate, loving relationship. He was immensely proud of him. [00:36:37] Speaker 1: And while Philip was undoubtedly proud of his youngest son's achievement, it didn't stop him being a target of Prince Philip's famous sense of humour. [00:36:45] Speaker 6: He's got a gold award. But for that, he would have been a dropper. [00:36:49] Speaker 3: Edward was asked about the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, why it was so important to him, and he sort of said, well, a lot of people just think it's in my DNA. [00:36:57] Speaker 1: The passion for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards was clear when he addressed gold badge winners at this year's Buckingham Palace Garden Party. [00:37:05] Speaker 2: Life will continue to throw challenges at you. It will continue to throw opportunities at you. I think because you have done the award, you will have the confidence to be able to take that unexpected journey. [00:37:18] Speaker 3: I think he really just wants to connect with young people, give them, you know, give them a bit of encouragement, give them a bit of a morale booster. [00:37:26] Speaker 5: I think there are Duke of Edinburgh award schemes in something like 144 countries around the world, which is an incredible legacy in itself. Edward wants to build on that. [00:37:35] Speaker 7: It was a source of huge pride to his father, Prince Philip, that Prince Edward had worked so tirelessly and so hard to promote this charity and cause for young people around the world. [00:37:51] Speaker 5: I think he wants to honour his father's memory as best he can and he carries the responsibility of ensuring that his father's greatest gift to this country continues. [00:38:02] Speaker 1: Edward has certainly come a long way since his early mistakes and is making a positive contribution within Charles' modern monarchy. [00:38:12] Speaker 7: Charles needs Edward and Sophie to do the humdrum royal engagements. Queen Elizabeth had 600 royal patronages. None of those have been reallocated. [00:38:24] Speaker 4: There's no way that all of those can be taken on by various members. Edward will take them on. [00:38:30] Speaker 3: Actually, look at him today and alongside the Duchess of Edinburgh, they are now in the press for all the right reasons. We're talking about their work, we're talking about the important sort of spotlight they're putting on young people, on how they're supporting the king. [00:38:44] Speaker 1: In March 2023, Charles awarded Edward their father's dukedom. And at Trooping the Colour, the king's first official birthday, it was his brother, Prince Edward, who was by his side. [00:38:56] Speaker 5: They've barely put a step wrong since they became full-time working royals. [00:39:01] Speaker 6: He's managed to create an aura around him that he's a safe pair of hands, he's reliable. [00:39:07] Speaker 7: It's essential for Charles to have senior working royals like Edward and Sophie out there, front and centre, working hard, showing why the royal family is still relevant. [00:39:20] Speaker ?: The end of the day is a very good day.