Education

A Princely Cause

Following in his father's philanthropic footsteps

Written by Natali DelConte

For Americans to understand His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, it helps to liken him to the closest thing to a prince the U.S. has ever known: John F. Kennedy Jr. Much like HRH, our precious John-John was born into "royalty" and privilege. It was expected that he would be handsome. It was expected that he would be well educated. It was expected that he would behave himself (relatively speaking). Beyond that, the world never expected much more.

Kennedy took his ti me finding his calling in life, studying at prestigious universities and dabbling in various unrelated careers. After several attempts at the bar exam, Kennedy finally passed and practiced law as an assistant district attorney. He would abandon his post in 1993 to beco me a journalist, publishing the monthly magazine George.

Despite the nomadic career path, Kennedy did grow into respectability before his unfortunate death. He had settled down, had taken his publishing career seriously, and had devoted his free time to supporting his mother's urban improvement charities after her death.

Prince Edward's life is what Kennedy's may have turned into: marriage, fatherhood, relatively little controversy, not-too-high-but-not-too-low profile, and busy carrying on the charity work of his parents. But he too took a roundabout path. These days, the charity that takes up most of his ti me is the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, one of the oldest-running educational nonprofits in the world. The Award, as it is commonly referred to, was founded by Prince Edward's father, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1956. Prince Edward is a trustee of The Award and increasingly the face of it as Prince Philip, 86, inevitably slows down.

Prince Edward, whose full name is Edward Anthony Richard Louis Windsor, is the third child of Prince Phillip and Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. He is seventh in line of succession to the British Throne and therefore was never seriously considered likely to be king.

He followed his father and brother's educational path, completing his primary education at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, where he earned the distinction of head boy in his last term. He studied abroad in New Zealand before enrolling at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1986, and eventually a master's degree in 1991, making him the fourth of only five members of the royal family to obtain a university degree.

After completing his bachelor's degree, Prince Edward tried his hand as a Royal Marine but it did not take. He resigned in January 1987.

After his military career ended, Prince Edward, much like Kennedy, took a more unusual path for a royal and turned to entertainment. He became involved in theater, working as a production assistant for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. The press accused the company of giving him the job because of his royalty and not his merit, but his boss, Biddy Hayward, responded that he would have to fetch tea like any other junior staff member on a theater production. Prince Edward obligingly showed up on his first day, tongue-in-cheek, with a box of tea in hand.

After two years as royal tea boy, Prince Edward left Really Useful to start his own production company with Hayward. They called it Theater Division. It too was short-lived, folding after only a year.

The collapse of Theater Division was an embarrassment for the Prince but he was not to be discouraged. He took $326,000 of his own money and established a television production company in 1993 called Ardent Productions. In its first year it lost $739,500.

Things did not start looking up for his entertainment career until 1996 when he wrote, produced, and acted in "Edward on Edward," a made-for-TV movie in which the Prince documents the life of his late great-uncle, King Edward VIII, and the American woman for whom he renounced his throne, Wallis Simpson. The film earned him critical acclaim, including a Bette Davis Achievement Award, which partially silenced the press who had prodded him with questions about his talent since his days with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He would go on to produce several other TV shows of note, including "Crown and Country," and "Out of the Ashes."

In 1999, Prince Edward proposed to Sophie Rhys-Jones, who he met in 1993 at the Queen's Tennis Club. Her answer was reportedly, "Yes, yes please!" and the two were married that summer. At the time of their wedding, the couple took on royal titles Earl and Countess of Wessex and their royal duties began to mount.

The Earl and Countess had planned to continue working after the marriage but in 2002 after some particularly bad press and an unfortunate miscarriage, the couple resigned from their respective careers to focus full-time on royal engagements. She withdrew from R-JH, the public relations agency she cofounded, and he withdrew from Ardent.

"Working and playing hard is fine as long as it is fun and rewarding," he told the BBC when he announced his departure from the company. "Yet I always knew in the back of my mind that one day things would have to change. Well, that day has come-not just for me , but also for my wife."

Since his retirement from private business, the Prince has dedicated himself to The Award, traveling to over 25 countries on its behalf. He is the chairman of the award's International Council and has been brought it to more than 100 countries to date.

The Award was the brainchild of Kurt Hahn, who was the founder and headmaster of Gordonstoun School when Prince Philip was enrolled there. Hahn had an award system in which he gave students badges for achievements in athletics and expeditions.

Hahn's intention was to extend his merit program nationally but the SecondWorldWar held back his plans. He approached Prince Philip with the plans when the war simmered down and the two of them, together with Lord John Hunt, founded the program. It would graduate over 3 million participants in its first 50 years.

The Award has three progressive levels: bronze, silver, and gold. Students must work their way up to a gold but can choose the activities within each level.

They must complete achievement in: (1) Service, referring to community service; (2) Skills, referring to a hobby, craft, or interest; (3) Physical Recreation, such as sport or dance; (4) Expedition, referring to outdoor adventure such as cycling or horseback riding; and for Gold levels only, (5) Residential Project, which refers to an enterprise charity project. It takes an average of one year to complete their levels.

Young people between the ages of 14 and 25 are allowed to participate. In the UK, nearly 7 percent of all teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 take part, either through their clubs or schools or other voluntary organizations. At any given time, it is estimated that 225,000 students are working to earn their next Award level.

The program's mission statement sums up the overarching theme: "The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is committed to providing for young people an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of personal development, which is of the highest quality and the widest reach."

It takes over 50,000 volunteers to keep The Award running in the UK alone. Multiply that by 100 countries, and you have quite the administrative task. Obviously Prince Edward does not tackle these administrative duties on his own. Nevertheless, he is quite the jetsetter, traveling from charity to award ceremony to promotional event, raising money and awareness, meeting the students, and getting to know the myriads of volunteers who help make it happen. In May, he visited the Silicon Valley to promote The Award in Northern California.

The Prince is intimately familiar with The Award ropes, having climbed them himself. He earned his Gold Award in 1987, a feat that neither of his brothers would accomplish. HRH says that his three greatest interests are young people, the arts, and sport. He is able to use his experience in theater and television to do more hands-on work with The Award, serving as patron of several theatrical and musical organizations.

In 2003, Prince Edward and his wife, the Countess, had a daughter, Lady Louise Windsor. The couple opted not to give her a royal title, hoping to protect her from the media. Barring any unforeseen royal rebellion, it will not be surprising if Lady Louise is coaxed into The Award process when she turns 14, or shortly thereafter.

At 43, Prince Edward seems to have shed his spoiled, youngest child reputation and established himself as a man to be taken seriously. He has a young family, a demanding philanthropic schedule, and a duty that lets him combine his passion for entertainment with his royal obligations. Certainly he could have married for titles and lived a lazy life in the Palace. But he chooses not to loaf daily, and in so doing, he lives a life JFK Jr. never did, getting a late start to greatness but getting there all the same.