Ruthie Henshall has opened up about her past relationship with Prince Edward, admitting it was always going to end. Appearing on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch with Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer, the 59-year-old West End star discussed her career and her new book, The Showgirl and the Prince, and revealed details of the secret romance that ran from 1988 to 1993.
She revealed she is still in contact with the royal and gave him a heads-up before the book was published. When presenter Tim Lovejoy called the relationship impossible, she agreed.
Tim said: "It's the impossible relationship. He's a prince and you've got a great career, it could never really work, could it?" Ruthie replied: "No. It was never going to work." Tim then joked: "Sorry to give away spoilers there - they didn't marry and have children. Sorry!"
How they met
Henshall first met Prince Edward in 1988, when she was 20 and playing Jemima in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. Edward, the late Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, was 23 and had just left the Royal Marines to work as a production assistant for Lloyd Webber.
The pair became close friends before the relationship turned romantic. She has described him as thoughtful and respectful, and he asked her to be patient before they became intimate, later requesting they keep the romance out of the public eye.
A secret romance
In her memoir, she wrote: "The secrecy could be fun. I remember a Sunday brunch at Kensington Roof Gardens, a mixer for all the Really Useful performers. He was representing the company."
She added: "I purposefully wore no knickers, so I could spend the whole time walking around the party and then coming back to him, leaving him under no illusion about what I was doing – trying to tempt him into bed. And not to sleep."
"I was now spending most weekends with him. When we finally made love, in January 1989, it happened very naturally."
Sunday Brunch
Sunday Brunch airs Sundays from 10am on Channel 4.
