1987: The couple meet for the first time
Prince Edward was 23 met 22-year-old Sophie Rhys-Jones at Capitol Radio in 1987, where she was working at the time in public relations. At the time, it was not love at first sight - in fact, Edward was dating Sophie’s friend.
1993: Second time’s a charm
It would be six years before the couple would meet again, this time when she was handling the publicity for the prince’s Real Tennis Challenge event. Bonding over their shared love of sports, the outdoors and the arts, they soon became a couple, with their first date reportedly being a tennis match and dinner at Buckingham Palace. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward reveals in her book about Edward that he got cold feet a year into the relationship, having realised it was serious - but also being cautious after the romantic disasters of his three elder siblings.
December 1993: The prince releases a statement on Sophie’s privacy
By the end of 1993, the media was aware of the couple’s relationship (biographer Andrew Morton reportedly rumbled them). Amidst news of their burgeoning romance, Edward took the unusual step of releasing a statement to the press about Sophie’s privacy, in a foreshadowing of the announcement that his nephew Prince Harry would make in 2017. ‘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.’
Happy birthday to the Duchess of Edinburgh, a ‘savvy peacemaker’ who was a key part of Her Late Majesty’s inner circle
1994: The couple attend two royal weddings
Following on from Edward’s heartfelt plea to the press, there was no turning back for the couple, who were going from strength to strength. The seriousness of the relationship was perhaps reflected best when Edward took Sophie as his plus one to the wedding of his mother’s cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, in 1994, with the prince pictured driving her alongside his formidable aunt, Princess Margaret - having her seal of approval being no mean feat. Later that year, they were also pictured together at the wedding of Edward’s cousin, Lady Sarah Chatto. It was around this time that it was first reported that Sophie had moved into Buckingham Palace, too, an honour usually reserved for fiancées only.
1996: Questions are raised over the couple’s lack of engagement
With Sophie attending more and more events, the media began pressuring Edward over when he would propose, with him reportedly snapping to one 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.’ Behind the scenes, royal biographers have claimed that the late Diana, Princess of Wales’s bombshell interview on Panorama the previous year had stalled any engagement attempts.
1998: Prince Edward proposes
During a winter break to the Bahamas, Prince Edward proposed to his girlfriend of five years. They announced their engagement the following month, after it was leaked by The Sun, with Edward telling 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.’
1999: Edward and Sophie’s Windsor wedding
On 19 June 1999, the Queen’s youngest son married his girlfriend of six years. The couple’s low-key nuptials saw just 500 guests invited to St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with a later 5pm ceremony and a request from Sophie that women need not wear hats (the Queen Mother, naturally, still did). Rather than a dukedom, Edward requested to be created the Earl of Wessex.
2001: Scandal ends Sophie’s career
Despite working in PR, Sophie fell foul of a few media gaffs early into her life as a royal, with one in particular credited with ending career. After being approached by the so-called News of the World ‘fake sheikh’ she was quoted as making disparaging remarks about Charles and the Camilla, as well as Cherie Blair, but it was her insinuation that her royal ties made for good business that ultimately saw her fall on her sword, quitting her role as head of her PR firm RJ-H. The following year, Edward also quit his TV production company Ardent, having failed to get it off the ground. From then on they focused on their royal work, rather than private careers.
2003: Lady Louise Windsor is born
After suffering an ectopic pregnancy in 2001, Sophie welcomed her first child, Louise, in 2003, yet it wasn’t without complications. A placental abruption meant that the little girl had to be delivered by emergency C-section prematurely, with Edward missing the birth due to being on a royal tour of Mauritius at the time. The Queen went to visit Sophie in hospital, which was a highly unusual move. It was announced that their daughter would not hold the title of princess, but instead would be known as Lady Louise Windsor.
2007: James, Viscount Severn is born
The couple celebrated the birth of their second child, a son, who they called James. They eschewed the title of ‘prince’ (even though he would have been entitled to it), instead settling on ‘Viscount’ as the son of an Earl.
2022: Celebrating 23 years of marriage
Edward and Sophie celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary in June 2022, and the royal is the only one of the Queen’s four children who remains married to his first spouse. They have faced significant trials in recent years – namely the deaths of Prince Philip and Her Majesty Queen II – but appear to have gone strength to strength. There was the assumption that Edward would one day inherit his father’s title of the Duke of Edinburgh, which was officially announced by Buckingham Palace on his 59th birthday, 10 March 2023, with Sophie becoming Duchess of Edinburgh. Last autumn they waved their daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, off to university at St Andrews, while their son, James, Viscount Severn, remains at home. It remains to be seen what the future will hold for the royal couple, but there is little doubt it will be bright.
2023: Return to their wedding venue on their 24th anniversary
On their 24th wedding anniversary, Prince Edward and Sophie joined King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and the Prince and Princess of Wales at the Order of the Garter service, held at St George's Chapel in Windsor, the church where the royal couple tied the knot on 19 June 1999. Sophie looked stunning in an Emilia Wickstead dress, paired with a hat by Philip Treacy and a Strathberry bag while Edward wore his ceremonial vestments.
