Steady Eddie steps into the limelight at sixty!
On his milestone birthday, the Duke of Edinburgh opens up on the King’s illness, refugees in Britain... and tells school pupils: Exams aren’t everything
IT’S 6pm on a wet, windy Wednesday and a very animated Duke of Edinburgh (no, not that one!) is chatting about everything from schoolchildren’s exam results to the plight of refugees.
Perched on a rickety chair in a youth centre kitchen and sipping water from a child’s pink plastic cup, Prince Edward reveals he and his wife, sophie, have recently visited several organisations supporting families who have come to the UK – admitting they were ‘somewhat surprised to see us there’.
He makes clear that the modern monarchy must embrace issues of immigration and diversity in their complexity.
Our country, he says, has long been shaped by the communities who have chosen to make it their home.
‘I’m always intrigued that when you scratch the surface of any Brit, you find there’s usually much more to them than just, you know, “Made in Britain”,’ he says. ‘so our role – being part of the monarchy – in trying to bring people together, is as important as ever, if not more so today.’
He adds: ‘I think we all wonder how we can reach out to those communities who perhaps don’t always think that this, the monarchy, is something for them.’ It’s a rather unexpected statement from this most cautious of royals, and one that perhaps hints at his private passions.
steady Eddie – a nickname given to the Duke of Kent, but one equally appropriate for the late Queen’s youngest son – has spent most of his royal career quietly toiling away, conducting hundreds of engagements each year that barely appear on the front pages.
But this weekend marks a milestone moment for the low-key duke – who is celebrating his 60th birthday tomorrow.
Yesterday, during a visit to Headingley stadium in Leeds, Edward – who like many Windsor men is not always one to show his feelings – looked visibly emotional as sophie paid tribute to her ‘darling’ husband.
the couple, who will celebrate their 25th anniversary in June, embraced each other lovingly after the Duchess of Edinburgh’s touching speech, in which she praised the duke as ‘the best of fathers, the most loving of husbands and still… my best friend.’
Edward, who was made Duke of Edinburgh by the King last year, was then presented with a cake in the shape of a ‘real tennis’ court and featuring images of himself and his wife, whom he met through the sport.
Indeed, when we sit down for an exclusive interview at the salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey (he is patron of London Youth), there is one subject the prince becomes sweetly flustered about, and that’s his wife.
‘Well, you need a really good supportive network in this and family is incredibly important. I am just very, very lucky that sophie is a brilliant, brilliant person in her own right,’ he tells me, smiling from ear to ear. It’s worth noting that he is the only one of the late Queen’s children never to have divorced.
Edward is not, it is fair to say, the most instantly recognisable royal, but his bread-and-butter work for the family firm is becoming more valuable than ever.
the acrimonious departures of his brother, Prince Andrew, along with Harry and wife Meghan – not to mention His Majesty’s recent cancer diagnosis – mean royal responsibilities will increasingly rest on the ‘younger’ family members’ shoulders, including those of Edward and sophie.
But he by no means appears to find this role a burden. On the youth centre visit, the duke gets stuck in playing table tennis with the teenagers, joining them in a mixing studio and discussing the merits of trampolining (his children, Lady Louise, and James, Earl of Wessex, had one in the garden.) ‘He is incredibly supportive in terms of the work we do, generous with his time and makes things happen,’ says London Youth CEO Pauline Daniyan.
It’s a reminder that Edward is now nearly an empty-nester, with Louise, 20, studying English Literature at st Andrews and 16-year-old James due to take his GCSEs this summer.
THE idea that children benefit as much from what they do outside the classroom as in it is why he is so passionate about the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which runs in 130 countries around the world, with him at the helm.
He says parents can be unwilling to accept that formal exams are not everything, saying: ‘Qualifications will get you an interview. But they won’t get you the job... It’s the other strings to your bow.’
Some may ask why anyone should listen to a prince, whose life has been cushioned by the luxury of permanent employment in the Firm. But Howard Williamson, professor of European Youth Policy at the University of south Wales and a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, believes he knows what he is talking about.
He says: ‘I’m not easily impressed but I’ve worked with him for years and can tell you what a fundamentally decent person he is. He’s passionate and knowledgeable about his work with young people.’
It’s a sentiment I hear time after time as I join the prince on a day of engagements, starting at King’s Hospital in south London, where the Duke of Edinburgh scheme runs a volunteering programme.
Edward’s manners are excellent, a long-term royal retainer tells me: ‘He was always the late Queen’s politest child – and that’s never changed.’
Up close, he’s the spitting image of Prince Philip, wearing the same turn-up trousers, but with his mother’s elegant features. But he has his own, almost theatrical, way of speaking. ‘Excellent! Fantastic!’ he enthuses after every conversation. He doesn’t stand on ceremony, though, rolling up his sleeves, donning a plastic pinny and wheeling a meal trolley around the wards.
Although the prince drives during our day together, he is one of the few royals who often travels by foot – and even the tube – to work. A friend who has holidayed with the Edinburghs tells me the couple happily go down to the local Co-op to get supplies.
EDWARD’S favourite pastime is walking alone in the countryside with his beloved spaniel, Mole. But he is also, I am also told, a ‘demon’ BBQ-er, and can often be found outside in the dark at parties wearing a head torch and creating ‘truly amazing’ culinary delights – a talent inherited from his late father.
I remark to another friend that the duke has lost a notable amount of weight, and wonder if he has embraced a new fitness regime as he approaches his 60s.
‘I hate to bore you, but he’s just remarkably disciplined. He is not a big eater or drinker and certainly not a smoker. He just isn’t a pudding man,’ they say.
When we meet, I ask Edward about his brother the King’s health. He smiles wanly, understandably emotional given how raw the news is. ‘ We were all hugely grateful for the extraordinary support from everyone. I know he has been very touched by it all. He’s doing well, we are keeping our fingers crossed that it all goes very well,’ he says.
Edward may not live life on the edge – besides flipping burgers by torch-light – but after recent events, steady Eddie Mk2 might be just what the royal Family, and his brother, badly need.