PRINCE EDWARD TO RETIRE GRACEFULLY FROM MAKING ROYAL DOCUMENTARIES

October 21, 2001Oct 21, 2001, 11:00 PM GMT+1

Prince Edward may have stalled so far on revealing his future plans in the light of the St Andrews debacle, but British TV viewers will tonight discover what he has decided to do vis-à-vis his career. Malcolm Cockren, who is chairman of the Prince’s struggling TV company, Ardent Productions, will announce on Tonight With Trevor McDonald that Ardent is to stop making documentaries about royalty.

This is a risky decision for Edward, also known as the Earl of Wessex, as royal programmes have been the lifeblood of Ardent. The company has lost almost £1.7 million in its seven-year history and posted its first profit – albeit a modest one – at the beginning of the year.

Another guest on the show is Christine Carter, who blew the whistle on Edward’s capitalising on his royal status. Now she wishes she had made public the 1996 letter in which he admitted that he used his name to win special treatment. “I thought about what the letter told us about Prince Edward,” she says. “And I thought if I had revealed it a long time ago we wouldn’t be in the situation where he thinks he’s got special access to doorstep his nephew.”

In a separate development, a US broadcaster has turned down Ardent’s A-Z Of Royalty, the programme which was caught stalking Prince William red-handed last month. E! Entertainment was expected to buy the programme, earning Edward and his company a six-figure sum.

Although Edward has not said as much so far, the chairman of his production company is to appear on a British TV show tonight and reveal that Ardent is to give up making royal documentaries

This move can only be a result of the flak that Edward endured after it was revealed that his company had been shadowing Prince William around St Andrews

Although he is currently keeping a low profile, Prince Edward cannot stop running into controversy - two weeks ago, he walked out of a press conference after a BBC journalist asked him a tough question

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