Prince Edward's former girlfriend Ruthie Henshall has revealed that the royal laughed off rumours about his sexuality after he left the Royal Marines and entered the showbiz industry. Speaking on HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, Henshall said that when Edward left the Marines and began working in theatre, people assumed he must be gay.
Ruthie Henshall Reveals Edward's Reaction
Henshall, a West End star who dated Edward for five years in the 1990s, said: "When he came out of the Marines, he went into showbiz, and then people thought he therefore must be gay. That was how the rumours started." She described his initial reaction as humorous: "He would roll his eyes and just laugh about it."
She added that Edward was comfortable with LGBTQ+ individuals, noting: "Without revealing too much, one of his staff was gay. He had no problem with anybody being gay. Not around him."
Edward's Career Change Sparked Speculation
Edward, now 62, joined the Royal Marines in 1986 but left after only four months of a year-long commando course. He then worked as a production assistant for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company and later founded his own production company, Ardent Productions, in 1993.
Henshall, who wrote about their relationship in her new book The Showgirl And The Prince, revealed that she knew Edward was not gay after their first intimate encounter. She wrote: "No, that boy ain't gay. That's what I thought."
A 'Very Passionate Affair'
Describing their romance as a "very passionate affair," Henshall told HELLO!: "I used to keep him up all night." The couple dated for five years before Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999. The couple now have two children: Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.
