KING'S GIFT
Prince Edward appointed to new role by King Charles as four new images released to mark his 60th birthday
It comes after Princess Sophie paid tribute to Edward in a tearful speech
PRINCE Edward has been appointed to a new role by King Charles - as four new images are released to mark his 60th birthday.
The King appointed Edward to the Order of the Thistle, Scotland's highest honour.
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Edward is seen wearing a red jumper underneath a dark buttoned waistcoat.
Other pictures show him smiling with his three dogs, Labrador Teal, cocker spaniel Mole and Labrador puppy Teasel.
It comes after Edward revealed his wife Princess Sophie is his “rock” in a rare interview.
Edward told ITV gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh: "I’m incredibly lucky that I found Sophie and that she found me."
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He and Sophie, 59, have been married since 1999 having met at a promotion shoot for the Prince Edward Summer Challenge two years earlier.
During the interview, Edward also praised his father Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, for being “brilliant with people” even if it sometimes “didn’t necessarily come across that way”.
“He was always, always encouraging everybody,” he said. “You sort of needed to get to know him.
“He was just an extraordinary man. He was the Prince Albert of our age.
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"He had an extraordinary mind. He loved design, he loved innovation.”
Edward revealed some of his lasting memories of his father, including teaching his daughter Lady Louise to drive a carriage.
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He said: “It was entirely off her own bat… he took her out with the team.
"I think it was only the second time, he was driving along and he said, ‘Do you want to have a go?’
"She didn’t have time to even answer the question, he just handed the reins across.”
“We’re very lucky, we’ve got two, of what we would think are particularly brilliant children.
"They are forging such different paths for themselves. I think that’s also equally fascinating,” he added.
Asked about adjusting to his new title, Edward said it had been a “huge privilege” but had also bestowed “quite a lot of weight of expectation as well”.
“I mean, there’s an awful lot of legacy that came with that title and everything that my father had done,” he continued.
“Especially when you’re not inheriting it, this is a choice… that comes with all the expectations that people have.
“It’s just the weirdest and strangest feeling. You walk into a room and, particularly still today.
"There are name places on a card and I still look around going ‘Yes, but where am I sitting?’.”
In a newspaper interview, Edward said the monarchy is “as important as ever” in “trying to bring people together”.
He told the Daily Mail: “Our role – being part of the monarchy – in trying to bring people together is as important as ever, if not more so today.
The duke carried out a series of engagements with Princess Sophie earlier this week, ahead of his milestone birthday this weekend.
He was presented with a Leeds Rhinos rugby shirt with “HRH 60” on the back during a visit to Headingley Stadium on Friday.
Edward noticed the detail on the back and said to his wife: “Yours is more subtle than mine.”
He told the young players: "Thanks a bunch. I really need to be reminded."
Sophie then paid a tearful tribute to Edward at the end of the Community Sport and Recreation Awards.
She said: “Edward is best of fathers, the most loving of husbands and he is still my best friend.
"I am so proud of the man he is."
King Charles made Edward the Duke of Edinburgh to mark his 59th birthday.
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Queen Elizabeth II also granted Edward the additional title of Earl of Forfar to mark his 55th birthday.
It comes Charles, 75, is undergoing treatment for cancer and the Princess of Kate is recuperating from abdominal surgery.
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