Prince Edward tells Alan Titchmarsh he felt a ‘weight of expectation’ after taking over the title of Duke of Edinburgh from his father in a rare TV interview to mark his 60th birthday
The Duke of Edinburgh has described feeling a “weight of expectation” as he took over his father’s title in a rare TV interview.
A year after taking over the role, Edward admitted he still doesn’t know where to sit in a room when his title is written in a name place.
In a rare television interview, The Duke gardener Alan Titchmarsh told ITV’s Love Your Weekend program about the challenge of taking over the role from his ‘extraordinary’ father, Prince Philip, who died in 2021 aged 99.
“It was a huge privilege, but it also came with a lot of expectations,” said Edward, as he celebrated his 60th birthday.
“I mean, there’s an awful lot of legacy in that title and everything my father did, especially if you don’t inherit it, this is a choice.”
The Duke of Edinburgh has described feeling a ‘weight of expectation’ as he took over his father’s title in a rare TV interview
As he got used to his new title, Edward said, “It’s just the strangest and strangest feeling.
“You walk into a room and, especially now, there are name tags on a card and I still look around and say, ‘Yeah, but where am I sitting?’
During the interview, Edward praised his father for being “brilliant with people,” even though sometimes it “didn’t necessarily come across that way.”
“He always encouraged everyone,” he said. ‘You actually had to get to know him.
‘Everyone always commented on my dad’s sense of humor, but he just did that.
‘He was just an extraordinary man. He was the Prince Albert of our time. He had an extraordinary mind. He loved design, he loved innovation, he was brilliant with all kinds of people.”
The duke said his father was much more comfortable talking about the organizations he supported and “refused to talk about himself.”
During the interview, Edward (pictured with Labardor puppy Teasel) praised his father for being “brilliant with people”, even though sometimes it “didn’t necessarily come across that way”.
Edward continued, “Never ask him to blow his own trumpet, he would never do that.
“You had to get him talking about the organizations he supported, and what he had done in connection with them, and that’s how you got around it.
“And for heaven’s sake don’t say, ‘What are you feeling?’ Because he would never have shared something like that.”
Edward also said his wife Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, is his “rock”, adding: “I feel incredibly lucky that I found Sophie and that she found me.”
He and Sophie, 59, have been married since 1999 after meeting two years earlier during a promotional shoot for the Prince Edward Summer Challenge.
Asked what he does to unwind and relax, the Duke said he enjoys “getting out in the countryside.
‘The garden, dogs,’ he continued: ‘The garden is the most wonderful place to do all kinds of things.
“It can also be a great place to get away and think about things.”
The Duke held a series of engagements with the Duchess of Edinburgh earlier this week ahead of the milestone birthday.
He was presented with a Leeds Rhinos rugby shirt with ‘HRH 60’ on the back to mark the date during a visit to Headingley Stadium in Leeds on Friday.
Prince Edward noticed the detail on the back and told his wife: “Yours is more subtle than mine.”
He told the young players: ‘Thank you very much. I really need to be reminded.’
Sophie then paid a tearful tribute to Edward at the end of the Community Sport and Recreation Awards, saying he was ‘the best dad, the most loving husband and still my best friend’ and that she was ‘so proud of the man’ . He is’.
On Tuesday, the Duke and Duchess visited an amateur boxing club and community church in Stafford.
In the images, Prince Edward wears a red sweater under a dark button-up cardigan and laughs with his three dogs: Labrador Teal, cocker spaniel Mole and Labrador puppy Teasel
The king’s brother, the youngest child of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, celebrates his 60th birthday on Sunday
The Duke held a series of engagements with the Duchess of Edinburgh earlier this week ahead of the milestone birthday
The downsized working monarchy is under increasing pressure, with some senior members of the royal family banned from public duties.
Charles, 75, is undergoing treatment for cancer and the Princess of Wales is recovering from abdominal surgery.
It comes as Edward praised Prince Philip as an “extraordinary spirit” as he shared his favorite memories of his father in a rare interview to mark his birthday.