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People: The unknown royal: Prince Edward comes to Germany

People: The unknown royal: Prince Edward comes to Germany

Prince Edward has always been overshadowed by his brothers. That changed when King Charles took office: while his wife Sophie was more prominent at first, his importance is now also growing.

The big unknown in the circle of the royal family is gaining more and more profile. For Prince Edward, this also includes a visit to Berlin. Because when the Royal Family is reorganized, the youngest brother of King Charles III. a special role. At 59, the Duke of Edinburgh, as he was recently given his official title, is one of the younger members of the nuclear family. A good 15 years younger than Charles and 18 years older than heir to the throne Prince William, Edward is an important link between the royal generations in the current upheaval.

For a long time, he was primarily the baby of the family, a member of the “still there too” faction. He was considered a man without any special peculiarities, as boring. Scandals – none, apart from a faux pas a few years ago. At the time, Edward’s production company released footage of William’s nephew at university – even though the palace had reached an agreement with the tabloids to respect the privacy of the future king.

13th in line to the throne

Edward is now 13th in line to the throne. Media reported that Charles treated the youngest as a “lesser royal”. In addition, his wife Duchess Sophie outranked him in public, who earned the respect of her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II with great effort and became one of the most visible royals representatives in the pandemic.

But now it’s Edward’s turn. Charles wants to slim down the monarchy. The third scandal-ridden brother, Andrew, is unpopular over his involvement in an abuse scandal and has stepped down from royal duties. Charles’ younger son Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan left the royal family voluntarily and fell out with the king and heir to the throne.

Edward is considered a representative of the younger generation

There are not many royals left. With the 74-year-old head of state, Queen Camilla (75) and Charles’ sister Princess Anne (72), three formative figures are already well over retirement age. That leaves William (40) and his wife Princess Kate (41) as well as Edward and Sophie (58) as representatives of the younger generation. The newspaper “Daily Mail”, which is friendly to the royal family, has already hailed the quartet as the “new Fab Four”. The term was once used to refer to William, Kate, Harry and Meghan before it broke.

At Charles’s coronation, William and Edward and their families – the Edinburghs have daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 19, and son James, 15, who inherited the title Earl of Wessex from his father – were in close unity. A few days later, the two couples appeared as the hosts of a garden party at Buckingham Palace, with Kate and Sophie appearing in matching dresses. “The four royals combine decades of hard work and duty,” wrote the “Mail” about the “influential foursome”.

Ms. Sophie is considered a confidante of Kate

Sophie is believed to be Kate’s confidante, who helped her navigate the royal family after marrying William in 2011. The two women share a similar background: Neither come from aristocratic families – the down-to-earth Sophie even comes from the middle class – and are considered pragmatic and stoic. Edward, for his part, can provide reliable support for William on his way to the throne after brother Harry’s departure.

Edward’s loyalty was finally rewarded recently. As early as 1999, his father Prince Philip had promised him that he would one day be the Duke of Edinburgh. Finally, in March, Charles gave his brother the title that the Queen Consort had borne until his death. Edward had gradually taken on more of Philip’s responsibilities and is now the official patron of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. As part of this international youth program, Edward will honor participants in Berlin.

Charles and Camilla were only guests at the end of March

This makes him the second royal to travel to Germany within two months. At the end of March, Charles and Camilla were there for a state visit. But the new attention also has its downsides, as Edward may have noticed recently. In photos he looked narrower than before. Speculations immediately broke out in the media and social networks. Is the stress getting to Edward? Does the dispute within the royal family bother him? Stories like this are likely to increase in the future. Welcome to the front row.

Source: Stern

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