The Duke of Edinburgh was destined for many years to follow in the footsteps of his late father and inherit his title.
Philip wanted his son to take on the historic title to mark Edward’s decades-long commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the youth scheme which is one of Philip’s greatest legacies.
The duke was born at Buckingham Palace on March 10 1964, and later christened Edward Antony Richard Louis.
After being educated at Gordonstoun School and Cambridge University he trained to be a Royal Marine but dropped out in 1987 and became the first child of a sovereign to actively pursue their own career, working for a period for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company.
He set up his own film and TV production company, Ardent Productions, in 1990, but faced criticism over claims that he used official royal trips abroad, funded by taxpayers, to drum up business for his firm.
Edward also enraged his brother, the King, when Ardent was found filming at St Andrews University, in breach of a media agreement, shortly after the then Prince William began studying there.
In the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year of 2002, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh finally announced that they would be quitting their businesses to become full-time royals.
Edward’s interests include sports and the arts and he is patron of Paralympics GB and vice patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation.
His many arts patronages include the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Northern Ballet and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.
Romance first blossomed between Edward and Sophie, a former public relations professional, when they met at a real tennis event in the early 1990s and they married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, on June 19 1999.
The couple have two children Lady Louise Windsor, 19, and 15-year-old son James, Viscount Severn the new Earl of Wessex.
