Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh have been happily married since June 1999 but before then he had a six year on/off romance with West End star Ruthie Henshall.

The couple first crossed paths in the late 1980s when she was starring in Cats, but despite her “genuine love” for him it eventually ended due to her career commitments.

During her appearance on Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs, Ms Henshall opened up about them spending time together in the Palace and how King Charles also hung out with them.

She told presenter Kirsty Young that “it was very exciting…I genuinely fell in love with him”, adding that she was even “smuggled” into the Palace to see Edward.

Ms Henshall recalled attending cook-outs with members of the Royal Family, including the late Queen Elizabeth, with Charles “turning the sausages”.

Ms Henshall was later married to fellow actor Tim Howar, but said of her time with Edward: “I think I had hopes that we could walk on in our relationship but really and truthfully I think I was very aware that I wouldn’t be able to do what I do for a living if I’d have stayed with him … there was nothing – at that stage – that was more important than what I did.”

The pair clearly remained on good terms as she later attended Edward and Sophie’s wedding, and according to the Daily Mail she still has his phone number.

Following her appearance on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2020 she told the publication: “I think if I had been talking about deepest, darkest secrets, or negativity, possibly it might have been a very different thing, but I don’t have anything negative to say about any of the family.

“I’m not busting any secrets that aren’t mine to talk about, but also they’re not really secret — it’s just a part of my history and I’m completely up for embracing that. It’s been a long time, too — I mean, I was 20 when I met him.”

The West End star spoke about how their romance blossomed when Edward was working as a production assistant: “He was the one who’d call me up and say, ‘You’re rehearsing at 2 o’clock’ or whatever.’

“And he said to me: ‘Would you like to come to mine and watch the film of A Star Is Born and you can have some dinner?’. I was like: ‘What, at the Palace — is that where you live?'”