Ruthie Henshall memoir may make Prince Edward blush
West End actress Ruthie Henshall's tell-all memoir, The Showgirl and the Prince, details her five-year romance with Prince Edward — including claims of "very hot sex" she says may make him blush — even though the Duke told her she has every right to publish. Pan Macmillan releases the book in July 2026 as royal watchers once again focus on a former girlfriend's account of life inside the Firm.
Henshall dated Edward on and off between 1988 and 1993, when he worked for Andrew Lloyd Webber and she was a rising musical theatre star. The Telegraph's review of the memoir suggests the candid passages are precisely what could leave the now Duke of Edinburgh turning red. For more offbeat royal stories, see our Bizarre World section.
Key Takeaways
- The Showgirl and the Prince recounts Henshall's discreet five-year relationship with Prince Edward until 1993.
- In a Times interview, she described "a lot of very hot sex" and rejected rumours about Edward's sexuality.
- Edward said she had "every right" to tell her story; Henshall expects he may still blush at intimate details.
- She cut ties with Sarah Ferguson after finding recent Epstein-linked revelations "horrendous".
- The memoir grew from love letters and diaries Henshall rediscovered while clearing out boxes.
What does Ruthie Henshall reveal about Prince Edward?
Speaking to The Times ahead of publication, Henshall said the pair first slept together in January 1989. She described "a lot of very hot sex" during their romance, adding: "Believe me, [homosexuality] is not part of that man's past."
The Telegraph notes that Henshall and Edward used to laugh about gay rumours when they were together. She has also recalled being "smuggled" into royal residences and meeting members of the late Queen Elizabeth II's inner circle while trying to keep the affair out of the tabloids.
Pan Macmillan bills the book as a "funny, honest and touching" Cinderella story about a chorus girl from Bromley who drank and smoked too much. Henshall has said marriage into the Royal family was never realistic because she would have had to give up the career that made her an Olivier Award-winning star.
How has Prince Edward reacted to the memoir?
Henshall told The Times she gave Edward a heads-up before the book went to press. When they met, she said he told her: "You have every right to tell your story. You are a person of profile."
She warned him the memoir might make him blush, but insisted she treated their shared history respectfully. The Telegraph reports the pair remain on good terms decades after splitting in 1993, long before Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones.
According to Henshall's Times interview, Edward also said he could not put her through royal life, telling her: "You would never subject the woman you love to the job." She later understood he was trying to protect her, not hide her away.
What did Ruthie Henshall say about Sarah Ferguson?
Separately, Henshall has made blunt comments about Sarah Ferguson that The News International describes as shocking. She said Ferguson was once welcoming, inviting her to events and drawing her into family conversations.
After recent revelations linking Ferguson to the late Jeffrey Epstein, Henshall said she finds what has emerged "disappointing and horrendous." She told Hello! magazine, quoted by The News International: "We are not still in touch and I wouldn't be now."
Henshall also recalled Ferguson advising her to "get out while you can" regarding Edward. She reflected that while Ferguson was portrayed as a royal liability, Henshall herself would have been "a tabloid wet dream" had her relationship with Prince Edward become public in the 1980s.
Why does this memoir matter now?
The Telegraph frames Henshall's book as another potential headache for palace staff already managing royal scandal. Unlike more explosive past memoirs, however, the actress insists hers is a love story, not a revenge hit.
With publication set for mid-July 2026, the question is less whether Buckingham Palace can stop the headlines and more whether Prince Edward will actually blush when he reads the passages only a former girlfriend could write.