From secret palace dinners to handwritten love letters, Prince Edward’s former girlfriend is opening up about their once-hidden romance. Her new memoir promises an intimate glimpse into royal life and is already sparking debate.
A cache of old correspondence has prompted Ruthie Henshall to revisit a chapter of royal history that many assumed had long been closed.
The West End star is set to publish “The Showgirl and the Prince” in July, a memoir detailing her on-and-off romance with Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before he met Sophie Rhys-Jones, now Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
The 58-year-old performer said the idea for the book emerged after she uncovered boxes of diaries and letters while clearing out her garage five years ago.
“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 shared. Those letters, written when the Prince was in his early 20s, form the emotional backbone of the memoir.
At the time they met in 1988, Ruthie was making her West End debut as a chorus girl in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats.” Prince Edward was working for the impresario and moved in very different circles — yet their worlds collided backstage and, soon enough, beyond it. She recalled:
“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.”
In the early days, the relationship unfolded largely out of sight. Ruthie has said the Prince would telephone her during rehearsals and invite her to Buckingham Palace for dinner or to watch musicals.
When news of the romance eventually broke, the Evening Standard captured the contrast with a now-famous headline that read, “Prince and the Showgirl.”
Despite the tabloid framing, Ruthie has consistently maintained that the relationship was not fleeting. “I genuinely fell in love with him,” she once said, pushing back against suggestions that it was merely a youthful interlude.
According to Pan Macmillan, the book traces the relationship from its discreet beginnings to more formal moments, including visits to Buckingham Palace and tea at Windsor Castle with the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The publisher described it as “a funny, intimate, and touching memoir” and pitched it as “a real-life Cinderella story — if Cinders is a lycra-clad chorus girl from Bromley who drinks and smokes too much.”
The couple eventually separated in 1993, with Ruthie choosing to focus on her career.
Ruthie has repeatedly spoken warmly about the Royal family. “I have nothing but nice things to say about them all,” she said. “The Queen, in particular, was lovely. Here I was, this chorus girl dating her son — it must have been her worst nightmare!”
Yet, while her reflections are affectionate, they have not always been discreet. During an appearance on “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” in 2020, she was reportedly shocked to learn that her remark about having had sexual encounters in Buckingham Palace had been picked up by microphones and broadcast.
She has also recalled being invited to a Royal family summer barbecue at Balmoral, where Diana, Princess of Wales, encouraged her to perform “I Dreamed A Dream” from “Les Misérables” before senior royals.
In 2023, she reflected on the moment with characteristic candour. “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 said, adding:
“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.”
The couple eventually separated in 1993, with Ruthie choosing to focus on her career. She later married and had two daughters, and built a distinguished stage résumé, starring in productions including “Chicago”, “Billy Elliot”, “Oliver!” and more.
The performer also appeared as a judge on “Dancing on Ice” and took on a role in “Coronation Street” in 2024, playing a cruise ship singer.
Despite the eventual split, Ruthie is understood to have remained on good terms with Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and reportedly attended their 1999 wedding.
But even so, the prospect of a memoir built around royal love letters may cause unease within palace circles. The announcement comes as the Royal Household continues to navigate scrutiny following Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.
It is not known whether Buckingham Palace has been given advance sight of the manuscript. However, the palace was contacted for comment. Meanwhile, reaction online has been swift and sharply divided.
One person commented, “Sounds like blackmail,” while another typed, “Skeletons in cupboards making a $$.” A third wrote, “Jumping on the bandwagon,” and a fourth netizen echoed that sentiment, sharing, “Boy!
The Royal accusers are going to have to get a bigger bandwagon.”
Whether readers approach the memoir as nostalgia, revelation, or theatrical flourish, it reopens a relationship that once unfolded between stage lights and state rooms.
In July, Ruthie will publish her account of what she still frames as first love — told not through rumour or headlines, but through diaries, memories, and the letters she kept.
