The love story between Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and Prince Edward began with a quietly wonderful gesture that melted the prince’s heart.
In 1993, Sophie Rhys-Jones was a successful PR director at Capital Radio when she first met Edward at a charity tennis challenge she was working on.
Fate intervened when former professional tennis player Sue Parker pulled out of the photo shoot at the event, and Sophie stepped in instead.
According to royal author Sean Smith, who wrote Sophie: Saving the Royal Family, there was no immediate spark visible to viewers. “No one at the photo shoot noticed there was any electricity between them,” Smith wrote, adding that “there was no doubt that the prince had phoned to suggest a trip to the movies.”
Sophie simply left Edward her phone number “in case there are any problems with the challenge.”
Months later, Edward called her “out of the blue” with an unexpected invitation and a real game of tennis, followed by dinner at the palace.
Despite knowing little about the sport, Sophie accepted. Edward happily explained the rules and hit some balls, while Sophie worked her magic in a more precise manner.
Smith noted that Sophie had the “precious talent of making men feel completely at ease,” allowing the couple to relax almost instantly in each other’s company.
During this tennis date Sophie played the move that will stay with Edward forever. She suggested that she take proper lessons so that one day she could “give the prince a real toy.”
“Edward smiled,” Smith explained. “His natural shyness melted into Sophie’s smile.”
Their relationship blossomed quietly but surely. Edward proposed in January 1999, and they were married later that year in a beautiful ceremony at St George’s Church.
They welcomed two children: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, who are currently 17th and 16th in line to the throne.