Prince Edward has spoken about how "incredibly lucky" he was to have "found" his wife, the Duchess of Edinburgh, as he sat down with Alan Titchmarsh on his birthday.
The Duke of Edinburgh joined the TV presenter for ITV's Love Your Weekend where he spoke movingly about his wife, his daughter, Lady Lousie Windsor, and his late father, Prince Philip, who held the Dukedom before Edward was bestowed it last year.
During their interview, Alan noted how Edward always had "support" from his wife, much in the same way the late Duke of Edinburgh always supported the late Queen. Opening up about his "rock", Edward said: "[The Duchess of Edinburgh is] critical, absolutely critical.
"She's been an absolutely brilliant rock and I'm incredibly lucky that I found Sophie and that she found me. Hopefully we've been a really brilliant partnership. We're very lucky, we've got two, of what we would think are particularly brilliant children, who are forging such different paths for themselves. I think that's also equally fascinating."
© ITVEdward also reflected on his daughter and late father's shared passion of carriage driving, something which Philip taught Lady Louise to do, even leaving his carriage and horses to his granddaughter in his will.
Revealing how Lady Louise picked up her passion, Edward explained: "It was entirely off her own bat. I mean, you know, just one day: 'Can I go out with you and go sit on the boxes?'. He [Philip] was like, 'Absolutely'. He never was going to say no!
© Max Mumby/Indigo"He took her out with the team and I think it was only the second time, he was driving along and he said: 'Do you want to have a go?' and she didn't have time to even answer the question, he just handed the reins across."
And on his late father, the 60-year-old commented: "He was just an extraordinary man. He was the Prince Albert of our age. He had an extraordinary mind. He loved design, he loved innovation, he was brilliant with all sorts of people.
© Samir Hussein"Sometimes it didn't necessarily come across that way but he was actually brilliant with people. He was always, always encouraging everybody. You sort of needed to get to know him."
When Edward turned 59 in 2023, Charles bestowed upon him and his wife the title of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and for his latest birthday, the royal joined the Order of the Thistle, the most senior honour in Scotland.
© GettyReflecting on his first year as the Duke of Edinburgh, Edward said: "It was a huge privilege but also quite a lot of weight of expectation as well. 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… that comes with all the expectations that people have. It's just the weirdest and strangest feeling. You walk into a room and, particularly still today, there are name places on a card and I still look around going 'Yes, but where am I sitting?'."
© Chris JacksonFor his 60th birthday, Buckingham Palace released photos of Edward with his three dogs, Teal, Mole and Teasel. The royal looked relaxed in a red shirt with a green waistcoat and matching pair of trousers as he cradled Teasel in some of the shots. The photos were taken by photographer Chris Jelf on Monday at Edward's home of Bagshot Park.
READ: Duchess Sophie pays tearful tribute to 'darling' and 'best friend' Prince Edward
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