West End star Ruthie Henshall has shared details of a scary yet humorous encounter with members of the Royal Family. The actress was in a relationship with Prince Edward for five years after meeting while working for Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1988.
In her new memoir, The Showgirl and the Prince, she discloses that Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son was her first love before the couple eventually separated on good terms. Throughout their time together, the 59-year-old spent periods with various members of the royal family and claims they were surprisingly informal in private.
Prank at Balmoral Castle
Recounting one notable visit to Balmoral Castle, Ruthie described how Prince Edward and King Charles played a trick on her. In an extract from the memoir, serialised by the Mail on Sunday, she wrote: "At 8.15pm, we went into dinner in the candlelit dining-room, hung with portraits of ancestors, and sat down at a long table. I was seated between Edward and [Prince] Philip, who was always easy to talk to."
As the night progressed, Ruthie said it was Charles who prepared her first-ever martini, which she described as "a polite way of having large amounts of vodka with a bit of vermouth waved at it". Following several martinis, Ruthie remembered excusing herself to visit the bathroom, only for the trip to take an unexpected turn.
"As the martinis were whizzing through me, I went to the loo with a candle," she revealed. "Edward and Charles told me they hoped I wouldn't bump into the ghosts that lived in the house (they'd spent some time frightening me with ghost stories). They then waited outside the loo and jump-scared me as I came out. I screamed the place down. They were hilarious."
Relationship with Prince Edward
Ruthie and Edward ultimately parted ways, with the pressures of her career as a West End leading lady taking its toll on the relationship. Despite separating, they maintained a cordial friendship, and she was subsequently invited to his wedding to Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, at Windsor Castle in 1999.
"I genuinely fell in love with him," she revealed. "I suppose I was not like anyone he'd dated before, a warm and flirty leotard-clad chorus girl, prone to telling risque jokes and drinking and smoking too much." She continued to describe her ex-partner as "kind and thoughtful" and "a lovely bloke".
Ruthie later married Canadian-born British singer Tim Howar in 2004, though the marriage concluded six years afterwards. The former pair met while performing in the West End production of Peggy Sue Got Married and share two daughters.
Book publication
Prior to the book's publication on July 17, she revealed on Instagram: "If you love the golden age of musicals in the 80s and 90s and a love story then this is your jam. I am so proud of this book because it was something I wanted to write when I started my diaries aged 15. I have had a hell of a life. I am luckier than a girl should be. I hope you enjoy the book."
