It was a relationship that dominated headlines in the late 80's and early 90s, but now, Prince Edward's ex-girlfriend and West End superstar, Ruthie Henshall, is set to share all the details of their relationship in her new memoir.
Five-time Olivier nominee, Ruthie, 58, promises the bombshell book will reveal "the bittersweet joy of first love", documenting her and Edward's five-year romance, from its beginnings of secret visits to Buckingham Palace to tea at Windsor with Queen Elizabeth II.
© Getty ImagesThe inspiration for the new book came after Ruthie found a large number of "love letters" from her former royal beau while clearing out her garage. "I found old diaries which I began writing in the 1980s and then found all my letters from Prince Edward, and I was struck by how precious this time in my life was," she said.
Adding: "I was on the West End stage – my dream since I was a girl – and shared a love with a man very few people even know. If this was someone else's story, I would think they had made it up. So here it is – a look behind the curtain of a crazy life in musical theatre and what happens next when a showgirl falls in love with a prince."
© PA Images via Getty ImagesRuthie and Edward met in 1988, while 1988 while they were both working for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production company. At the time, Ruthie was in the musical Cats, while the Prince was working as a production assistant.
Who is Ruthie Henshall?
As well as being a doting mother to her two daughters, Ruthie is West End royalty, winning her first of five Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical in 1995 for She Loves Me. Known in the industry as the ultimate triple threat, she is the only British actress to have played all three female leads in Chicago: Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, and Mama Morton.
Beyond her iconic stage roles - which include playing Fantine in the iconic Les Misérables 10th-anniversary concert - Ruthie also has her own drama school in Bury St Edmunds, RHCAST.
© Gareth Cattermole/Getty ImagesShe has most recently starred as Fräulein Schneider in the award-winning West End revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, alongside fellow theatre royalty Eva Noblezada. Ahead of their debut show, Ruthie and Eva caught up with HELLO! For an exclusive chat.
While Ruthie declined to comment on her former relationship with Prince Edward, she did gush about her life as a showgirl, calling the theatre her "church."
© Getty Images"I find that I've always said that the theatre is my church. It is a place where for 2.5 hours. I don't have to think about anything else. There's an old saying, and people always take the mickey out of it. Especially today, we used to call it 'doctor theatre' , which was, you, you know, if you rang up the company manager and you said: 'Oh, I don't feel well today, you know, she'd say: 'Oh, come on, darling, doctor theater will get you through it," she told us.
Ruthie added, "It's so true because, unless you are really ill, once you come in here, you cannot think of anything else for 2.5 hours, and let me tell you, by the time you go out after the show, you feel completely different. It's like a big hug. I was just gonna say I've been doing it for 40 years, and still, my favourite place to be is the theatre."
Scandalous confession
Ruthie may be a star of the stage, but that hasn't stopped her from dipping her toes into the world of television. In 2020, she appeared on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! And made a rather racy confession about her former boyfriend, accidentally broadcasting live on air the details of the intimate side of their relationship.
© Photo: RexSpeaking to fellow campmate Shane, Ruthie boldly said: "You performed in Buckingham Palace, you sang in the gardens, I [expletive] in the bedrooms."
Ruthie has also previously opened up about singing I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables during an impromptu performance for the royal family, but not being nervous because the then-King Charles had plied her with martinis. "I wasn’t nervous because Charles had just made me a couple of Martinis, which is why I ended up singing in front of the Queen," she recalled in 2023.
"I was feeling no pain, because I was three sheets to the wind! It will always be one of my greatest honours. Diana was there, Princess Margaret, the Queen Mum, Edward and Charles."
On good terms
Between the secret visits and scandalous confessions, it appears that Ruthie has a good relationship with Prince Edward and his wife, the Duchess of Edinburgh, as she attended their royal wedding as a guest.
© Tim Graham Photo Library via GetFollowing their split in 1993, Ruthie went on to marry Canadian singer Timothy Howard, with whom she welcomed her two daughters.
