In a similar childhood tragedy to that suffered by William, the Queen's cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, lost a parent in a tragic accident. He is also a product of Sandhurst.

However, Edward has even fewer memories of his father than William does of Diana. King George V's fourth son, the glamorous George, was killed in a somewhat mysterious plane crash during World War II when his son Edward was just six years old.

What may come as a surprise to those of us who now see a rather stern royal personage in the Duke of Kent — a far from glamorous figure who is now of little interest to the baying press pack — the Queen's now 71-year-old cousin was also one of the great royal playboys of his time.

Far from spending his days and nights surrounded by his family, Edward spent much of his early twenties frequenting nightclubs with his army friends, often downing copious amounts of alcohol and chatting up the ladies.

Having passed out from Sandhurst in 1955, Edward became a Second Lieutenant in The Royal Scots Guards.

Few foresaw his immediate life consisting of little more than the military and frequenting the nightclubs of London.

Having known the trauma of his father dying young in an accident nobody could have believed possible of this most glamorous and enigmatic of royals, Edward embarked on years of reckless behaviour which far surpassed his regular drinking sessions in the often louche clubs which magnetically drew the young royal through their doors.

Having survived a car crash — caused by his excessive speeding — the Duke went on to be involved in a second similar accident, on this occasion only just escaping with his life.

Likely to the relief of his mother, the increasingly concerned Princess Marina, Edward was soon to be removed from London for a far more sedate life in Yorkshire for training exercises with his regiment at the Catterick camp in the North Riding.

Little did he know that his new life would see him meeting the woman he would all-too soon wish to make his wife.