Prince Edward has over the years become more and more crucial as a working member of the Royal Family, and now in the reign of King Charles he has become indispensable thanks to his dedication and loyal service.
However he was not always a working royal, and as such had to make his own way financially by trying to establish himself in a career, with mixed results.
After completing his History degree at the University of Cambridge, he served a brief stint in the Royal Marines before moving into theatre production and later television production.
He eventually set up his own production company in 1993, Ardent Productions, which made a variety of programmes including several documentaries.
This was when he found himself facing the ire of his eldest brother, as in September 2001 a two-man film crew from Ardent were seen in the Scottish town of St Andrews, where Prince William had started studying.
Edward got into hot water over his company Ardent Productions (Image: Getty)
Once William had started university privacy agreements were put in place with the press, so as not to disturb him or his friends during his studies.
This meant paparazzi shots were not to be published, with then-Prince Charles furious at Edward for seeming to violate this rule by sending a film crew up there.
Royal author Robert Jobson recalled the incident in his 2006 book William’s Princess, as Ardent was making significant financial losses every year except one when Edward did not take out his salary.
He wrote: “The programme was understood to be keeping Ardent afloat. Desperate times seem to have called for desperate measures for Prince Edward.
“William was furious. He felt his uncle’s company’s actions had threatened to undermine the carefully nurtured relationship between St James’ Palace and the media, and in turn that it would threaten the entente cordiale between him and the press.”
Charles too was angry with Edward, and felt he needed to make a choice between his royal and professional responsibilities.
Charles was keen to protect his son from the media (Image: Getty)
Mr Jobson continued: “When the story emerged, Prince Charles understandably went ballistic.
“He berated his youngest sibling, furiously demanding from the Queen that Edward be made to choose once and for all between his public duties and his television company — itself many believed little more than a vanity project dependent on Edward’s title for what little success it had.
“Relations between the brothers plummeted to an all-time low as St James’ Palace publicly criticised Edward for his idiocy and the behaviour of his production company.
“In unusually blunt terms, a spokeswoman for Prince Charles said that he was: ‘Disappointed, very much so.’”
