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A Century of Royal Weddings, Andrew and Edward

04-26-2011 by L. S. Carbonell

 

Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, was born February 19, 1960, in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace. He was the first child born to a reigning monarch in 103 years, and baptized on April 8 in the Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. He was first educated by a governess, then attended Heatherdown Preparatory School before being enrolled in 1973 at Gordonstoun, the same school his father and older brother had attended. The Queen chose, with her sons, to have them attend schools outside England during their secondary years, and Andrew spent six months in 1977 at Lakefield College School in Ontario, Canada. Following graduation from Gordonstoun, Andrew enrolled in the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.

Andrew chose a Naval career, undergoing the same tests for admission that all young men go through before being selected for training as a helicopter pilot. He also, in 1980, trained as a Royal Marines commando. His squad’s base was the aircraft carrier Invincible.

In 1982, Argentina invaded the island group known as the Falklands. The islands are off the coast of Argentina, their population is British and they have been disputed for years. Invincible was going to be a major factor in the British response to the invasion, and the government asked that Prince Andrew be removed from the ship for the war. The Queen declined, and Prince Andrew was a full participant in the war. Following the war, Andrew served briefly elsewhere, but his main assignment continued to be the Invincible until his transfer to the Royal Naval Air Station in Portland for further training. It was anticipated that Andrew would have an illustrious military career.

He had always been considered “the good looking one” of the royals, favoring the Mountbatten side of the genes instead of the Windsor. His dating life raised enough eyebrows in the world press to earn him the nickname “Randy Andy.” His tastes definitely ran to less-than-royally-acceptable young women, including a porn star or two. When the Palace announced that Prince Andrew was engaged, there was little surprise that he had chosen a real, honest-to-goodness commoner as his bride. The sigh of relief was that she was respectable.

Sarah Margaret Ferguson was the daughter of Major Ronald Ferguson and Susan Mary Wright. Major Ferguson had retired from the military to a farm where he indulged his passion for polo ponies. His family had a few peripheral ties to the royals, but was essentially as Sarah described them “country gentry with a bit of old money.” Sarah and Prince Andrew had known each other all their lives, Sarah being four months older, but had only become romantically involved in 1985. Sarah trained as a secretary and held jobs in public relations, an art gallery and a publishing house before marrying her Prince.

Earthy, boisterous, experienced and more mature than Princess Diana at her wedding, “Fergie” was an instant hit with the British people. As much as people had hailed Princess Diana as a “breath of fresh air” for the monarchy, Fergie was viewed as a potentially stiffer breeze for sweeping out cobwebs.

The wedding took place on July 23, 1986, at Westminster Abbey. The Queen bestowed the title Duke of York on Prince Andrew and Fergie became the Duchess in addition to becoming a princess. Thousands of people lined the streets to watch Fergie’s procession from Clarence House, the official residence of the Queen Mother. Princess Diana had also spent the night before her wedding there. An estimated half billion people were watching on television world wide when Fergie stepped from the coach with her father.

Her gown could have starred in a Dan Brown novel, filled as it was with symbolic embroidery. Designed by Lindka Cierach, of ivory duchesse satin with a 17-foot train, it was covered with crystal and pearl embroidery depicting everything from small anchors to a large monogrammed A for Andrew to Scottish thistles. The tight-fitting bodice accentuated her voluptuous, but not zaftig, figure. Sarah was definitely a woman, not a girl, and the dress showed that off. Instead of a tiara, she wore and crown of flowers in her hair. Her attendants were all young girls (my apologies, I couldn’t find their names), dressed in little pink gowns instead of the ivory that Princess Diana’s attendants had worn. Andrew was in full dress uniform.

As a non-state wedding, the guest list was friends and family instead of heads of state, though First Lady Nancy Reagan was in attendance for this wedding as she had been for Prince Charles’ as was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The guests were outnumbered by the 30,000 flowers filling the venerable Abbey. The service was conducted by Dr. Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, with Prince Edward as the best man and Prince Charles reading the lesson. During the ceremony, Fergie managed to muddle Andrew’s name, saying Christian twice, but she vowed to “obey” something none of the other brides have done since Margaret.

The Royal family owns a large collection of horse-drawn carriages collected over the years, and this wedding highlighted the open 1902 State Landau, which the couple used to travel to the Palace and then to leave the palace for a party at Claridge’s Hotel for their close friends.

Following the wedding, the family and close friends moved on to Buckingham for the traditional appearance on the balcony, including kiss, and a wedding champagne breakfast. It was when the party broke up that the press had its first hissy fit over Fergie. While being driven away in an open carriage, she committed the unforgivable crime of waving and calling out to the household staff who were assembled in the courtyard. That, and the sight of the Queen scurrying after a grandchild who was running after the carriage gave the royal-watchers the vapors. Andrew and Fergie honeymooned in the Azores.

Princess Beatrice was born on August 8, 1988, and Princess Eugenie was born on March 23, 1990.

Andrew continued with his military career. If anyone had had their brains in gear, Fergie would have moved to Portland and lived among the other wives in Andrew’s unit. Instead, Fergie was left to her own devices, first living at Buckingham and then at her house, Sunninghill Park. The marriage was on life-support by 1991 and they formally separated in March, 1992. They divorced in 1996, the same year as Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The Queen would later refer to 1996 as her “horrible year.”

One of Andrew’s best moments came from one of the family’s darkest. Andrew was on hand when the November 1992 fire broke out at Windsor Castle. He helped co-ordinate the evacuation of the Castle’s treasures that night.

In spite of the divorce, Andrew and Fergie remained close, even sharing the same house for years while they raised their daughters. The girls attended day schools instead of boarding schools and have lived fairly normal lives for members of the upper class. The ensuing years have not, however, been kind to their parents. Andrew finished his military career in 2001 as an officer in the Diplomatic Directorate of the Naval Staff. He was released from the active duty rolls that year, made an honorary captain in 2004 and promoted to Rear Admiral on his fiftieth birthday. Fergie found some success as the author of a series of children’s books about a helicopter named Budgie, became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers, which was an interesting response to years of being criticized for her weight, has pursued some charity work and suffered repeated monetary problems. She is currently under contract with the new Oprah Winfrey Network on American television.

On September 11, 2001, she was just arriving at her offices at the World Trade Center in New York City when the first plane hit the complex. Her entire staff was waiting for her at the entrance. They all piled in on top of each other in the limo and fled the scene. A total of 50 British nationals died in the twin towers that day, and Prince Andrew was the first Royal to visit the site, laying a wreath there.

Following his military career, Andrew has worked with the U.K. Trade and Investment division of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as the Special Representative. His suitability for the job was challenged by a member of Parliament, citing Andrew’s friendship with Saif Qaddafi, son of the Libyan dictator, as well as other dubious friendships. Andrew took over the job from his younger brother Edward. He represents the nation at trade fairs and conferences around the world. He is also a patron of The Middle East Association, the leading organization for promoting trade relations in the Middle East.

At the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, a large number of royal relations received incomes from the state. Those have been mostly done away with. Only the very oldest royals are still getting state checks. Prince Andrew receives just under a quarter million pounds a year directly from his mother, as well as nearly a half million pounds a year to “cover expenses for his public role.”

Sarah’s finances were impacted by the fact that she had given half her divorce settlement to her mother and helped support Mom’s Argentinian ranch until her mother’s death in 1998. Sarah’s finances again became an issue last year when she was taped in a sting operation accepting a bribe for access to her ex-husband. That put the kiebosh on the thaw in relations between Fergie and the royals and she has not been invited to the upcoming wedding.

In 2004, Andrew moved into the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park that had been the Queen Mother’s home in her last years. In 2007, Fergie gave up Sunninghill and moved into a rented house near Andrew. When it burned in 2008, she moved in with Andrew, though they maintain separate living spaces. Neither has been involved in a serious relationship since their divorce, have shared houses and speak fondly of each other, and generally have one of the most amiable divorces in history.

　

　

Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis was born on March 10, 1964 and became the family’s odd duck almost immediately. He was baptized in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle instead of in the Music Room of Buckingham, by the Dean of Windsor Robert Woods instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury. After an initial education with a governess and at age seven at the Gibbs School, Edward followed Andrew to Heathersdown Prep and Gordonstoun in Scotland. Like Prince Phillip and Prince Charles, Edward was Head Boy his senior year. He took a year off, working as a house tutor and junior master at the Waganui Collegiate School in New Zealand before enrolling in Jesus College, Cambridge. He was allowed to enroll at Cambridge even though his secondary grades were not up to snuff, and graduated with “lower second class honours” and a degree in history. He was subsequently awarded a Masters of Arts degree in 1991.

Upon graduation, Edward made a try of the military, but he had no aptitude for it and even less enthusiasm. He resigned in January 1987 before completing his training. From the press reaction, one would have thought Buckingham had collapsed into a black hole. Edward then did something that had only been done by a royal mistress wa-a-a-a-y back in the 1600′s – he went into the theater. He worked for two production companies, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company and worked on The Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express and Cats. He commissioned a private musical, Cricket, from Webber and partner Tim Rice as a 60^th birthday present for this mother.

In 1987, Edward unfortunately conceived the idea of a royal charity event for televison involving his siblings in medieval-themed games. Everyone condemned the effort. Princess Anne looked decidedly “not amused” throughout. In 1993, Edward formed Ardent Productions, which has produced a number of documentaries about the Royal family and British history, many of which have appeared on American television. The company never made a profit. In 2001, a two-man film crew violated industry guidelines and invaded Prince William’s privacy at University. Edward stepped down as manager in March, 2002. When the company was liquidated in 2009, it has assets of forty pounds.

In 1994, in an unexpected event straight out of the Victorian era, the leaders of the now-defunct Independent Royalist Party of Estonia, wrote to Prince Edward and offered him the throne if they ever win enough seats in the parliament. There is no record of how Prince Edward responded to this offer.