Prince Edward 1st in Family to Pursue Career in Theater

Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son, Prince Edward, will become the first member of the British Royal Family to pursue a career in the theater when he joins a London company as production assistant next month, Buckingham Palace announced today.

Buckingham Palace said his decision to join composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theater Company, which was behind the international musical hits “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” has the full support of the queen and his father, Prince Philip.

“I am delighted with the prospect of joining the company to learn more about the theater professionally,” the 23-year-old prince said.

Edward caused a stir when he resigned from the elite Royal Marines fighting corps 12 months ago, breaking a long royal tradition of service in the armed forces.

His interest in theater dates back to his days as a student at Cambridge University where he first appeared in front of the footlights.

Last summer he organized a charity production of the television game “It’s a Knockout” in medieval garb and persuaded his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of York, and his sister, Princess Anne, to take part.

Just before Christmas the prince narrated Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” with the London Symphony Orchestra at London’s Barbican concert hall.