How a British Royal Family Member Almost Became King of Another European Nation

One of the stranger episodes in the years after the Soviet Union’s collapse came in 1994, when a fringe political party in the newly-formed Estonia asked one of Queen Elizabeth’s children to become the Baltic country’s monarch. The Royalist Party, which won about 10% of the seats in Estonia’s parliament, reportedly sent Prince Edward a letter, asking him if he wanted to become their king. Considering Edward, the queen’s youngest child, had no chance of becoming king of his own country, it might have been a tempting offer.

Back in July 1994, the Sunday Telegraph obtained a letter the Royalist Party sent Edward, who was only 30 at the time. “Your background as an actor and television producer would be ideal to create the majesty a new king would require to combine ancient culture with modern political reality,” the letter read in part. A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed the letter really did arrive at the palace, but said the Earl of Wessex had not seen it yet. The palace later said it was “a charming idea but a rather unlikely one,” reports the Mirror.

The strange episode recently resurfaced in The Royal Family Operations Manual by royal expert Robert Jobson, reports BerkshireLive. The offer should not be considered something Edward ever took seriously, another royal expert, Richard Fitzwilliams, said. Indeed, the party that made the offer and dreamed of establishing a monarchy in Estonia, no longer exists.

The letter referred to Edward’s television work in the 1980s and 1990s. He began producing television shows in 1987, and later established his own company, Ardent Productions in 1993. The U.K. press often criticized the company’s work, accusing Edward of taking advantage of his royal connections. Ardent never found great success and was dissolved in 2009. Edward’s nephew, Prince Harry, is already finding more success with his and wife Meghan Markle’s production company Archewell, which has a deal to create shows for Netflix.

Edward and his wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, usually stay out of the spotlight except when representing the royal family at events. They have two children, Lady Louise, 17, and James, 13. Edward is now 14th in the line of succession to the British throne.

Over the summer, the two surprisingly decided to speak out about the rift between the family and Harry and Markle, following Harry and Markle’s Oprah Winfrey interview. In a CNN interview, Edward called the situation “very sad,” noting that all members of the family faces “excessive intrusion and attention” in their lives. “And we’ve all dealt with it in slightly different ways, and listen, we wish them the very best of luck,” the earl said. “It’s a really hard decision.”

“We’ve plodded along doing what we’re doing, hopefully doing it well. And then all of a sudden there’s a bit of a hiatus and things have changed a bit,” Sophia recently told The Telegraph. “Naturally, the media are looking for people to fill the so-called void. But you know, we have been doing this for what feels like a pretty long time! If people want to pay more attention to what we’re doing then great because actually, that’s got to be good for our organizations and the work that we are trying to carry.”