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The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are ‘setting the perfect example’ for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, a royal expert has claimed.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie were granted their new titles in March 2023 to commemorate the Duke’s 59th birthday and have stepped up their royal duties in the wake of King Charles’ cancer treatment.
Over the weekend, Prince Edward officially became the Colonel of the Scots Guard following the Duke of Kent’s final engagement in the role.
Last week, the royal couple attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale on behalf of the King.
Speaking to Ok!, royal expert Jennie Bond said Edward and Sophie are setting the ‘perfect example’ for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on how to be a successful in the Royal Family as a ‘spare’.
Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh attending the Easter service at Windsor Castle in March
Describing how the Duke and Duchess have been ‘quietly devoted’ to their causes over the years, the former BBC royal correspondent said: ‘As the King calls on them to take a more prominent role, Edward and Sophie are showing they are very much up to the task.
‘They are also serving as excellent role models to their great nephews and niece – showing that you can be a “spare” or even a “spare to the spare” and make a real success of working as a valued member of the Royal Family.’
What’s more, the royal expert said that the Prince and Princess of Wales – who have taken a step back from public life while the mother-of-three undergoes cancer treatment – are ‘acutely aware’ of the problems royal ‘spares’ can face.
As a result, Jennie says the couple ‘will do everything to make Charlotte and Louis feel every bit as special, loved and valued as George.’
Prince Harry famously named his January 2023 memoir ‘Spare’ and released a series of bombshells on the Royal Family.
Speaking to The Telegraph shortly after the book was published, Prince Harry revealed that he had voiced his concern about the future of other ‘spares’ in the family.
The Duke of Sussex said he hopes his efforts to highlight his own pain will pay dividends for the next generation.
He explained: ”Though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility.
Pictured: Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis hold hands as they arrive for King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation in May 2023
Pictured: the Prince and Princess of Wales with their three children after attending a church service in Sandringham in December 2022
‘Out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me.’
After abandoning his training as a Royal Marine, and dabbling in show business – notably his involvement in ITV’s It’s Knock Out game featuring members of his family – Prince Edward had not always been the most popular of the senior royals.
But in recent years, he and wife Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, have become increasingly popular and hardworking members of The Firm.
And additionally, he was considered ‘a really tough bloke’ by a former Balmoral gamekeeper, prompting the Telegraph to suggest he should be better known for ‘having an inner steel’.
Prince Edward takes part in a badminton match during an engagement at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham
The Duke of Edinburgh (pictured, left) holds the heavy punch bag for Lacey Douglas, aged 11, (pictured, right) at the National Youth Champion Amy Nolan at the Right Stuff Amateur Boxing Club
The gamekeeper, called ‘Massacre Masson’ by Prince Philip due how many stags he killed annually during the cull, declared Edward his favourite of the royal brothers, saying: ‘Edward was easily the toughest of all the princes. Nothing was too much for him.’
Now the most senior of males the King and Prince William, have had to cut back on duties, it is Edward is the most senior male carrying out the most engagements.
He has been busy in the last few weeks: recently turning 60-years-old. In a rare TV interview to mark the milestone in an interview with Alan Titchmarsh, he revealed he felt a ‘weight of expectation’ when he took over the title of Duke of Edinburgh from his father last year.
‘It was a huge privilege, but also quite a lot of weight of expectation as well,’ Edward said, as he marks his 60th Birthday.
‘I mean, there’s an awful lot of legacy that came with that title and everything that my father had done, especially when you’re not inheriting it – this is a choice.’On getting used to his new title, Edward said: ‘It’s just the weirdest and strangest feeling.’
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