People have lots of different opinions about the adorable Prince Edward, and one of my personal favorite theories is that he’s a genius. I mean, he’s the son of Queen Elizabeth II, for crying out loud! You’d think that would earn him some bonus IQ points, but according to the tabloids, not so much.
Now, I love a good trashy tabloid as much as the next person, but I also think they can be used as teaching tools. And in this case, they’re not giving Prince Edward’s intelligence level enough credit. Sure, he’s been ranked as the 14th most eligible bachelor in the world by Forbes, but is that all he’s been doing?
The truth is, Prince Edward has been very busy these last few years, and a lot of what he’s done makes him even more valuable as a future king than we thought. He’s not the frivolous party prince that some people might make him out to be, and he’s certainly not the dull student prince that others claim him to be. In fact, he’s accomplished a lot, and not all of it has been limited to his school days.
He Wants To Be Useful
It might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that Prince Edward, who was only 14 years old when his father became king in 1952, actually wants to be useful. He told The Sunday Times last year that he wants to “find a way to make a difference, to help, to leave a mark.”
As a child, he had a very close relationship with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and according to the tabloid, this is why he values duty so highly. He told the newspaper that he wants to “serve my country and do my duty. That’s all I want to do.”
So, although he’s very much a part of the royal family, he doesn’t seem to want to simply hang out with them and be a prince. He wants to find a way to contribute.
He’s Made A Difference
Not only does Prince Edward want to be useful, he’s actually made a difference in the lives of a few lucky people. Back in 2012, he visited the Children’s Hospital in London, where he spent time with the kids and played games with them. And on one unforgettable day, he actually changed a baby’s nappy and burped him. Can you believe that?
This display of fatherly affection wasn’t the only thing people noticed about Prince Edward. Many of the kids he met at the hospital went on to inspire him, and now he wants to give them something back. The prince set up the Edward VIII Foundation with the sole purpose of helping children like those he met while at the hospital and making a difference in their lives. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded over £20,000 in grants to various educational and charitable causes.
And you might be thinking that this is just a public relations move engineered by a publicity-hungry prince, but according to the tabloids, this is genuinely who he is and what he wants. Prince Edward has seemingly done this out of genuine affection for children, and I think we can all appreciate that. It’s not hard to find pictures of the royal with his arms around small tykes, and it’s not hard to see how a father might feel protective towards his offspring.
He’s Made An Educational Impact
Aside from wanting to be of use and make a difference in children’s lives, Prince Edward has also made a significant impact on adult education. As a student at Eton College, he took a Diploma in Modern Mandarin, a course that was only offered to a select few students each year. After finishing his studies at Eton in 1978, he went on to Cambridge University, where he earned a second degree. He is also credited with teaching himself to read classical Chinese.
In 2012, Prince Edward became the patron of the Chisholm Educational Trust, an organization that provides free tutoring for children in low-income areas. Through this patronage, he aims to increase access to education for children in this country, especially in areas where there is a shortage of teachers. Not only will this help to improve education for children, but it will also provide them with some well-deserved job security once they’ve finished their studies.
In the same year that he founded the Chisholm Educational Trust, Prince Edward opened up a new school named Rosebery Primary, which provides a creative learning environment for children. The school is located in London’s most exclusive suburb, and the fees are covered by the royal family. It is a school which, in the words of Prince Edward, “challenges convention and traditional ways of thinking.”
According to the tabloids, it appears as though Prince Edward is interested in education for both children and adults, and that’s a message which, I think, we can all get behind. It would be great to see more people like Prince Edward who genuinely care about improving the lives of others. He’s certainly not your typical prince, and it seems that he’s not interested in just hanging out with the rich and famous. He wants to be of use and make a difference.