| The Prince, the Princess and her un-noble lover |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | |
| Thursday, 08 December 2005 | |
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Page 1 of 3 In the mid-1990s, several years before she finally married Prince Edward — but also several years into their relationship — an editor at The Sun newspaper apparently lost their concept of what constituted a good story. The paper ran a huge front page photograph showing Sophie leaving Buckingham Palace in the early morning. The-then Miss Rhys-Jones was
pictured in her modest car, driving through the arches of the Palace at
around 7 or 8am, a soldier wearing his famous red tunic and busby looking on. The implication was obvious: the unmarried Edward and Sophie were possibly sleeping together under the very roof of the Head of the Church of England. Of course, nobody apart from those looking down from an unattainable moral highground gave a hoot as to the private nature of Edward and Sophie’s relationship. But Sophie should be very thankful her romantic life wasn't exposed in quite the same way as an earlier royal lady.  The Sophie incident wasn’t the first (or last) time the Press tried to make a front page story
out of very little. Back in 1981, as I think we all probably know,
a front page spread appeared in the Sunday Mirror in which the world
was informed that Prince Charles had enjoyed several
hours aboard the royal train with a 'mystery' blonde woman.Unbeknownst to the journalists, the blonde was not, as they thought, the virginal Lady Diana Spencer who, within just weeks, was due to marry her Prince. The blonde's identity has never been confirmed but the majority of people believe the woman who sneaked on board the royal carriage sitting in the railway sidings was the still very nuch married Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles. Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all of this? The reason is simple: in recent days the Sunday Mirror (yes, them again!) have run a ridiculous story relating to the private life and depth of intimacy between Prince William and Kate Middleton. You can tell when a newspaper is desperate for stories when they try to make a moral dilemma out of a royal Prince’s sleeping arrangements! But can you just imagine what kind of headlines would result if the story in the following anecdote were to ever become a reality for a current member of the House of Windsor? 
No, instead this lady, who lived between 1820-19094, was the daughter of King Jerome of Westphalia, otherwise known as Napolean’s brother Jerome. |
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