Meghan Markle's portrayal of a tightly formal Royal Family, even behind closed doors, is being sharply questioned by a new memoir from West End star Ruthie Henshall, who recalls a surprisingly relaxed weekend with Prince Edward and the late Queen at Balmoral in Scotland during their relationship between 1988 and 1993.
For context, Henshall's forthcoming book The Showgirl and the Prince, due to be published by Macmillan on 16 July 2026, sets out her five-year romance with Prince Edward, now the Duke of Edinburgh, after they met while she was starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats in 1988.