Prince Philip NEVER wanted his son to join the Marines… as his career plans for Edward are revealed

Leaving the Royal Marines is a big decision to make, especially if you are the Queen’s son.

This was the scenario Prince Edward faced in 1987, when he decided to leave the Force after just four months.

While her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, was “icyly unhappy,” according to Tina Brown in her book The Palace Papers, her father had a different view.

The Queen considered Edward’s decision a “dereliction of duty, but Prince Philip gave her unexpected support,” the former Tatler editor-in-chief wrote.

Philip had served actively in the Royal Marines for 14 years and held the title of Captain General of the Royal Marines for 64 years – but “he never thought Edward should have joined the Royal Marines in the first place”, Ms revealed Brown.

The late Duke of Edinburgh “wanted him to do something perhaps even worse, as far as the art-loving Edward was concerned: become an accountant,” the royal author wrote.

Edward was the most academic of his siblings at school and achieved nine O-levels and three A-levels, according to Tatler. His A levels included a C in history, a D in history and a D in politics, which led him to enter Cambridge to study history. He left with a degree of 2:2.

A brief statement from Buckingham Palace concluded Edward’s military career. It read: “Prince Edward has decided to resign from the Marines.

“Edward is leaving the Marines with great regret but has concluded that he does not wish to make this service his long-term career.”

Days after rumors of Edward’s departure, another Marine who had also traveled to Cambridge with the prince left, the Mail reported at the time.

Lieutenant Peter Fraser decided to drop out of the training course to return to university and pursue a master’s degree.

However, his choice had nothing to do with Edward’s and he said: “The news of Prince Edward’s decision came as a complete shock to me.

“Obviously I got to know him a lot better when we went to Lympstone in September. Although we shared the same hallway at the barracks, he never confided his problems to me and, quite honestly, I did not tell him about my own decision to leave, although I discussed it with other officers .

In April 1987, the Mail reported that Edward said the decision had come as a “surprise to everyone – and especially to me”.

He added: “I don’t regret it, but I was in a no-win situation and someone was going to come out badly. I now have to live in limbo until I get rid of the “ex-Royal Marine” label.

Later that year, in an attempt to find his feet, Edward came up with the idea for It’s A Royal Knockout.

The show was broadcast in June and filmed at Alton Towers. It involved four celebrity teams competing in games – including John Travolta, George Lazenby, Toyah Willcox, Gary Lineker and Barbara Windsor – with a royal team captain.

Edward, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson all took part and it ended with the prince reportedly “running away” due to the poor press reaction to the show.

For a short time, Edward also joined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theater Company in 1988.

The Prince has worked on productions such as Phantom Of The Opera, Starlight Express and Cats.

Eventually, Edward found his passion in the television industry when he started his own company, Ardent Productions, in 1993.

However, problems arose when the production company set up their cameras in St Andrews and were apparently trying to film Prince William leaving a conference room on the first day of 2001.

Edward and his wife, Sophie, later reportedly apologized personally to Charles for the incident.

The then Prince of Wales was reportedly so furious that he refused to answer Edward’s calls for several hours.

It has been announced that Ardent will stop making television programs about the royal family, the Daily Mail previously reported.

At the time, the company made 22 shows, half of which were about the royal family, including a documentary about the restoration of Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire.

In 2002, Edward left his position as co-chief executive of Ardent and his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, left his PR firm. Both later became full-time working royals.