Prince Edward breaks royal protocol for special reason

Prince Edward couldn’t seem to help himself as he decided to shed royal protocol and make an unexpected visit before he wrapped his royal duties for the year.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who is the patron for Reading Rep Theatre and has supported it throughout many years, met with the cast of its festive production of A Christmas Carol earlier this month.

King Charles’s brother had seemingly shunned the protocol for setting up a royal engagement to make the visit, but it had only received a positive reception for it.

“We were ever so lucky. He was in the local area on a few other visits and effectively gave us a call and asked to pop in on relatively short notice,” executive director Nick Thompson told That's TV.

He added that it was “a very rare thing for a royal visit because they normally have meticulous and long-term planning.” Although, he was glad that it happened.

“It was lovely that it all coincided, we had such a lot going on in the building. So, he was able to talk to our team during which we were doing those calls.”

Edward earned the patronage for Reading Rep Theatre in 2022, which is a leading theatre and cultural hub in Berkshire.

At the time, he said, “I look forward to helping with reinforcing this theatre’s inspiring work in the local community and to supporting its future endeavours.”

Edward has vigilantly seemed to have followed that promise given the reaction he received.

The founding artistic director Paul Staceys said that the Duke of Edinburgh’s continued support means “a great deal” to them.

“His visit this Christmas felt like a genuine celebration not just of our work, but of the extraordinary community that fills this building every day,” he said. “This year has shown more clearly than ever just how much our theatre means to local people, from our audiences and young participants to our creative teams and volunteers.”