NAMES IN THE NEWS : Not Gay, Says Prince Edward
Britain’s Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son, has angrily denied that he is homosexual.
“I’m not gay,” the 26-year-old prince told the mass-circulation Daily Mirror.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report.
The newspaper said the prince spoke to one of its reporters in New York at a party Sunday after the Broadway premiere of British composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s musical “Aspects of Love.”
Prince Edward has worked as a production assistant in Lloyd-Webber’s theater company since dropping out of the marines.
The Mirror said the prince was angered by rumors about his friendship with British actor Michael Ball, 27, who stars in the musical.
“It’s just outrageous to suggest this sort of thing,” the prince was quoted as saying. “It’s so unfair to me and my family. How would you feel if someone said you were gay?”
By speaking out on such a sensitive issue the prince has broken a tradition of silence surrounding the private lives of the Royal Family.
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