When Edward met Sophie – touching moments from the long, long courtship ahead of tomorrow’s 24th wedding anniversary
- Royal watchers despaired of hearing wedding bells
- But Edward and Sophie’s marriage has withstood the test of time
- For all the latest Royal news, pictures and videos click here
Today, they are key players in the Royal Family, achieving recognition and respect for their hard work.
There is something else that should be cause for satisfaction for the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh as they look forward to their wedding anniversary tomorrow: they are still together, unlike some other royal couples.
It is 24 years since Prince Edward, 59 and Sophie, 58, were married at St George’s Chapel Windsor.
This had followed a long, five year courtship, and questions as to why there had been no proposal.
Yet the time they took to get to know each other clearly been a strong foundation for a long-lasting relationship and a happy family.
Here, The Mail’s Royals section looks at some of the touching moments in that long romance…
1993 – Sparks fly
Prince Edward pictured chatting to Sophie Rhys-Jones at Real Tennis Marathon during the early stages of their relationship in December 1993
Edward, the youngest son of the late Queen, had first come across Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1987 when she was working in public relations for Capital Radio.
But it was a second encounter six years later that would set the ball rolling.
By then, Sophie was a public relations executive and in charge of the publicity for Edward’s Real Tennis Challenge.
At the time Edward, one of the best known players in the country, was conducting a Real Tennis marathon for charity.
Their first date is said to have been a tennis match followed by dinner at Buckingham Palace.
By the end of the same year, the press were increasingly aware of the couple’s relationship and Edward release a statement saying:
‘I am taking this unusual step of writing to you directly in the hopes of stopping your reporters and photographers from destroying that part of my life that I am entitled to regard as private and more importantly, Sophie’s life.’
1994 – Two royal weddings (but no proposal)
Prince Edward and his then-girlfriend Sophie Rhys Jones on board the Royal Yacht Brittania at Cowes in July 1994
The Prince and his plus one arriving for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Christmas party in 1995
The relationship certainly appeared to be serious when Edward took Sophie to the wedding of his mother’s cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, in 1994.
Later that year in July, they were also spotted together at the wedding of Edward’s cousin and Princess Margaret’s daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto.
It was the same year that it was first reported that Sophie had also moved into Buckingham Palace – a place typically reserved for fiancées only.
1996 – Still no wedding
Edward and Sophie were pictured laughing together ay the Dorchester Cup Polo match at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor in 1996
While members of the Royal Family are typically no strangers to enduring scrutiny of their relationships, Edward grew increasingly tired when he was asked multiple times whether he was going to propose.
Edward reportedly told a reporter from the Radio Times, ‘If you shut up, mind your own business and let me do it when I want, it’s much more likely to happen.’
It was alleged that the late Diana, Princess of Wales’s interview on Panorama the year before had stalled any previous engagement attempts and the Prince had decided to wait, instead.
1998 – Finally an engagement
Sophie Rhys-Jones and Prince Edward smiled for photographers on grounds of St. James’s Palace during announcement of their engagement in January 1999
During a holiday to the Bahamas in December 1998, Prince Edward proposed to his long-term girlfriend, Sophie.
They announced their engagement the following month in January 1999, when they were both 34 years old.
Prince Edward proposed to Sophie with an engagement ring made by Asprey and Garrard, which had an estimated value of £105,000.
When quizzed about why it took so long for the royal to propose, Edward told reporters: ‘It’s impossible to understand why it has taken me this long, but I don’t think it would have been right before, and I don’t think she would have said yes.’
Source: Read Full Article