Oprah who? From dates with Ulrika to a tortoise named Marmite (plus a refreshing indifference to American TV), 60 fabulous facts about birthday boy Prince Edward, by CLAUDIA CONNELL

He’s the youngest child of the late Queen and Prince Phillip who, for many years, lived in the shadow of his more high-profile brothers and sister.

But while his siblings have been hit by scandals and marriage break-ups, Prince Edward has quietly soldiered on with his duties, his faithful and popular wife Sophie by his side.

As the Prince celebrates his 60th birthday, we bring you 60 amazing facts about the man known in royal circles as ‘steady Eddie.’

1. The late Queen Elizabeth was convinced Prince Edward would be a girl and, for that reason, had given no consideration to boy’s names prior to his birth.

2. Edward was the only child whose birth Prince Philip attended. He was reported to have been holding the Queen’s hand when their son arrived.

3. He weighed just 5 pounds 7 ounces when he was born, making him the smallest of all the Queen’s children.

4. Many were surprised that Her Majesty named her son Edward, considering the pain Edward VIII’s abdication had caused her family. However, Edward VIII was known as ‘David’ to his family and it’s far more likely that Prince Edward was named after the Queen’s cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.

5. He made his first public appearance when he was just 12 weeks old when, wrapped in a blanket, the Queen held him in her arms on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1964.

6. His first pet was a Shetland pony named Valkyrie.

7. As a boy he loved the French cartoon books Asterix, about a Gallic warrior who had amazing strength due to a magical potion.

8. Visitors to Buckingham Palace recall Edward walking around with transistor radio glued to his ear, listening to pop music – Abba being a favourite.

9. Like his brothers, Edward attended Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland but, unlike them, he enjoyed his experience becoming Head Boy in his final term.

10. At Gordonstoun Edward developed a love of gliding and gained his gliding wings when he was just 16.

11. He achieved nine O’levels – more than his siblings. However, there was great controversy when he secured a place at Cambridge University to read history despite only gaining two Ds and a C in his A Levels.

12. He took private flying lessons at RAF Cranwell and gained his private pilot’s licence just before his 18th birthday.

13. Way before they became fashionable, Edward took a gap year in 1982, teaching English and history at the Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand.

14. While on his gap year, he also oversaw the school’s drama productions and taught the children how to play his family’s favourite parlour game – charades.

15. At Cambridge University Edward indulged his love of theatre and joined the Light Entertainment Society whose other alumni include comedians John Cleese and Sandi Toksvig.

16. While at Cambridge he appeared as Governor Danforth in an amateur dramatic adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible.

17. He also directed a children’s production called The Tale of Toothache City.

18. It was at university that Edward first developed his love of ‘real tennis’ – the original form of the game, played with a solid ball on an enclosed court.

19. Despite a bout of glandular fever, he produced the rag-week revue Glitter Ball Prizes in March 1984.

20. After leaving Cambridge with his 2:2 degree, Edward joined the Royal Marines but was only lasted just four months of the gruelling training, during which he sustained many injuries.

21. He achieved a Duke of Edinburgh Award gold medal after completing a 60-mile four-day trek in Scotland.

22. He could easily have been killed aged 23 when he was thrown from his horse at Windsor but was saved by his riding hat, which split in two on impact.

23. After putting out feelers for a job in the entertainment industry, aged 24, he was offered a part in Dr Who but was advised by royal officials to turn it down.

24. Able to laugh at himself for being dubbed the ‘teaboy’ after landing a junior role at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company, Edward turned up for his first day with a packet of PG Tips under his arm.

25. In 1986 he commissioned Andrew Lloyd Webber to make ‘Cricket’ a musical especially for his mother’s 60th birthday that was performed at Windsor Castle.

26. The most embarrassing episode in Edward’s career came in 1987 when he produced and appeared in a game show later dubbed It’s a Royal Knockout – against his mother’s wishes. Prince Andrew, Fergie and Princess Anne also took part in the charity event which was roundly mocked.

27. In 1993 he set up Ardent Productions, making documentaries (mostly about the royals.)

28. Edward had a handful of dates with Ulrika Jonsson in the Eighties. Ulrika later claimed there was ‘slap and tickle’ but that they did not sleep together.

29. Musicals star Ruthie Henshall dated Edward for five years in the early nineties, sometimes being smuggled into Buckingham Palace in the back of a car.

30. Edward first met his future wife, Sophie, in 1987 when she was working as a press officer at Capital Radio, but neither were single at the time.

31. Fate intervened when Sophie, then a PR executive, stood in for Sue Barker at a charity photo call to promote real tennis in 1993 and the pair began dating.

32. Harry wasn’t the first royal to put out a statement requesting privacy for his girlfriend – Edward did the same in 1993.

33. Never mind ‘Waity Katie’, ‘Stoical Sophie’ waited six years for Edward to pop the question.

34. So great was the Queen’s affection for Sophie that she allowed her to keep rooms at Buckingham Palace when she was just a royal girlfriend.

35. Edward proposed while on holiday with Sophie in the Bahamas, who was taken completely by surprise.

36. Sophie’s £105,000 engagement ring from royal jewellers, Garrard, has a two carat oval diamond in the centre with smaller heart shaped diamonds on either side.

37. During their engagement interview, when asked why he’d waited so long to propose, Edward revealed that he was afraid Sophie would turn him down.

38. Edward and Sophie requested that their wedding, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor on June 19th 1999, should not be a state occasion, meaning they were under no obligation to invite politicians or military leaders.

39. Edward and Sophie wanted to keep their wedding as informal as possible and asked female guests not to wear hats…a request the Queen Mother ignored.

40. Sophie presented Edward with an 18carat gold pocket watch as a wedding gift.

41. After his marriage, Edward became the first British prince since George I to be created an Earl rather than a Duke and Sophie became a Countess.

42. He was allegedly drawn to the title Earl of Wessex after watching Colin Firth play a character called Lord Wessex in Shakespeare in Love.

43. There was no lengthy, lavish honeymoon for Sophie and Edward, instead they just had four days at Balmoral

44. Bagshot Hall, the family’s £30million home is a 120-room grade II listed sprawling mansion in Surrey, originally built for King Charles I in 1609.

45. Like most senior royals, Edward and Sophie don’t own their home. It’s owned by the reigning monarch who decides who can and can’t live there.

46. Fittingly, Edward and Sophie visited Prince Edward Island, in Canada on their first royal tour.

47. In 2001 Sophie lost a baby after suffering from a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.

48. He missed the birth of his daughter Lady Louise in 2003 when she arrived a month early while he was on an official visit to Mauritius.

49. When Lady Louise was born, Queen Elizabeth went to visit Sophie in hospital – something she never did with any other royal grandchildren.

50. In 2004 Edward encouraged the public to donate blood but set tongues wagging when he revealed he was ‘unable’ to do so himself. Contrary to belief, it’s not against royal protocol as both Charles and William have donated in the past.

51. Edward was there for the birth of his son, James, in December 2007 and described his newborn as ‘very cute and cuddly.’

52. It wasn’t until he was 38, at the time of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, that he became a full-time working royal.

53. When Ardent Productions was dissolved in 2009 it had just £40 in assets.

54. In 2009 he was investigated by the RSPCA when photos appeared to show him beating his gun dogs, but the charity found ‘no evidence’ of abuse.

55. His favourite tipple is gin and tonic.

56. Edward’s favourite sports are Real Tennis and skiing and he also likes to garden for relaxation.

57. It was said to be the wish of Prince Philip that Edward should carry the Duke of Edinburgh title after his death.

58. The family have a pet tortoise called Marmite.

59. When asked, by a journalist, whether he had watched Harry and Meghan’s tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview, he replied: ‘Oprah who?’

60. At the Coronation, lipreaders picked up Edward offering words of support to his brother, Charles, saying ‘I know you’ve got it.’