After decades of discretion, of being the perfect secondary and even dedicating himself to private business for a time, Prince Edward turns 60 tomorrow, being a value more necessary than ever for the British royal family due to the permanent and temporary casualties that have diminished lately. With Charles III undergoing treatment, Princess Catherine recovering, Prince Henry in the United States and Prince Andrew disgraced by the Epstein case, Eduardo, and also his wife, Sofia, have climbed the hierarchy to an importance they would not have imagined. long ago.
It could already be seen last year at the coronation of Charles III, when Edward and his family were one of the few invited to pose with the new kings on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, something that promises the collaboration of the couple during the reign of Charles III. his brother. This new acquired position is also due to the fact that Edward is the son of Elizabeth II who has caused the least inconvenience to the British crown, and that he and his wife are, along with the princes of Wales, the only Windsors under 70 years old who fulfill commitments. officers.
According to his mother, the little prince was “the quietest of my children.” Before marrying Sophie Rhys-Jones, when he was in his thirties, the prince's apparent reluctance to marry and settle down left many wondering what was wrong with Edward. It was believed that the divorces that had already devastated his family in those years (he is the only one still married to his first wife) and the unwanted media attention towards Lady Di had delayed his decision to cross the altar. In the nineties he also faced doubts about his sexuality, but his girlfriends from his youth, such as the singer Ruthie Henshall, were in charge of denying those rumors.
He always maintained, both publicly and before his family, that he would marry only when it suited him. And that happened on June 19, 1999, at the age of 35, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle with his longtime girlfriend, before an estimated audience of 200 million viewers. “We are the best of friends and that is essential and it also helps that we love each other a lot,” said Eduardo months before the wedding.
As a young man, when he was the queen's most handsome son, he was a great theater fan, he collaborated in several productions and that led him to start a career in the audiovisual world as a documentary presenter. Filmed Crown
As Edward celebrated his 59th birthday, King Charles III fulfilled his mother's wishes and granted him the Duchy of Edinburgh, the title the Queen's husband had held since their marriage. In the last years of Philip of Edinburgh, the youngest son became increasingly close to the foundations that his father looked after and now presides over them from his current 14th place in the line of succession, behind his brothers and all his children and grandchildren.
They say that in a room in Bagshot Park, his residence near Windsor, hangs a caricature of his mother singing to a group of penguins about her discontent with the media. Eduardo has always been allergic to the press and has sometimes confronted it, which is why he is the least known of the brothers despite being the one who risks the most with ties.
Until last year he and his wife were known as the Earls of Wessex, a title now carried by the couple's youngest son, James (16). Her eldest daughter, Lady Luisa (20), has inherited her grandfather's love of horse-drawn carriage racing, and was the protagonist at her coronation with her mauve flower dress.
