Ruthie Henshall, the renowned West End performer, has opened up about her bittersweet romance with Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II. Their relationship began in 1988 while they were both working under the legendary theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Describing her relationship with the prince as her first true love, Ruthie and Edward spent five vibrant years together before amicably going their separate ways. Now, as her memoir The Showgirl and The Prince nears publication, she reflects on the excitement, challenges, and unforgettable moments of dating royalty.
One memory, in particular, stands out: her nerve-wracking first meeting with the Queen. Ruthie admitted she made a significant faux pas that day. “My dad told me to curtsy and address her as ‘ma’am’,” she recalled to Your Magazine. “But I completely forgot and instead grabbed her hand, saying, ‘I’m really pleased to meet you, really pleased to meet you.’ Here I was, a chorus girl dating her youngest son—it must have been her worst nightmare!”
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Ruthie fondly remembers Prince Edward as “kind and thoughtful” and “a lovely bloke.” She said, “I genuinely fell in love with him. I wasn’t like anyone else he’d dated — a warm, flirty chorus girl, often clad in a leotard, with a penchant for risqué jokes and a somewhat wild lifestyle.”
Their busy lives eventually led to their breakup, but they parted on good terms. Ruthie was even invited to Edward’s 1999 wedding to Sophie, now the Duchess of Edinburgh, held at Windsor Castle.
Ruthie went on to marry Canadian-born British singer Tim Howar in 2004. The couple, who met during a run of Peggy Sue Got Married, share two daughters but divorced in 2010.
Looking ahead to the release of her memoir this July, Ruthie shared a sneak peek on Instagram: “Releasing this book, my dream come true, feels bonkers. The Showgirl and The Prince tells a story of deep love, brutal honesty, and a life beyond my wildest dreams.”
In an interview with The Telegraph, she revealed how rediscovering old diaries and love letters from Prince Edward inspired her to tell this unique story. “I was living my dream on the West End stage and sharing a love very few people know about,” she said. “If this was someone else’s story, I might think they made it up. But it’s real—a glimpse behind the curtain of a showgirl’s crazy life and what happens when she falls in love with a prince.”