Prince Edward

British royalty, the son and fourth child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip; third in line for the throne. The least publicly known of the royal children, at 15 he was shy and introspective, not bolstered by approval from his dad's approval. At 18 he entered New Zealand college for a two-year stint after which he followed the family military tradition by entering the Royal Marines. He resigned from the Marines after 14 weeks in 1987 to pursue a career in theater production in spite of his dad's explosive objection. A string of girl friends played counter to vague rumors that he was gay. He began a serious relationship with Sophie Rhys-Jones, 28, in August 1993. Though she kept her own apartment, she began to spend much of the week with Edward in his suite at Buckingham Palace. On 1/06/1999, they announced their engagement. The early-evening ceremonies, on 6/19/1999, attended by just 550 family members and close friends, was held well away from London's great cathedrals and with no official representation from foreign countries. The entire British royal family was in attendance, excluding noted ex-wives and longtime loves. After the ceremony, the newlyweds took a jubilant ride in an open carriage through-out the historic heart of Windsor, past cheering crowds, some of whom had camped overnight to secure their prime spots. Both parties are determined to make their marriage last and avoid the highly publicized stumbles of Edward's siblings. On 12/06/2001, his wife Sophie miscarried a two-month entopic pregnancy. Public pressure finally became too much to withstand in keeping their own jobs, so Edward announced in a speech on 3/02/2002 that they would both give up their business life in order to attend to royal duties. Though they love a combined income of $185,000, the Queen will up their annual allowance from $200,000 to an estimated $356,000 - paid from her own account - and Edward will continue to receive another $213,000 a year from his 4.3 million trust fund. Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex (formerly Sophie Rhys-Jones), had a baby girl by emergency Caesarian section. The baby was delivered at 11:32 PM on November 8, 2003 in Frimley Park Hospital in Surry. Eighth in line to the throne and Queen Elizabeth’s seventh grandchild, the baby was several weeks premature and weighed in at 4 lbs 9 oz. She was transferred to St. George’s hospital in Tooting, South London as a precaution. Edward was on a state tour of duty in Mauritius when the baby was born, and flew home immediately. The birth follows a traumatic failed pregnancy in December 2001 when Sophie was airlifted to the hospital after suffering a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. The baby was given the name of Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor and will be known as Lady Louise Windsor. Link to Wikipedia biography