Distinguished Guest 

His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

We are singularly honored this year to have as our Very Distinguished Guest His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.  As far as we know, and we have researched this extensively, this marks the first time a Senior Member of the British Royal Family has ever visited a Scottish Games outside of Scotland.  This is truly an historic occasion.
 

The Prince will be in Greenville as the guest of the Miss South Carolina Organization.  He will present the Duke of Edinburgh Awards to those Miss South Carolina contestants who have qualified over the past year for the honor.  While he is here, the Miss South Carolina Organization  has most graciously consented to let him visit our Games.  We are very grateful to Gail and Joe Sanders, Directors of the Miss South Carolina Organization, for their permission. 
 
HRH Prince Edward will be present for the Opening Ceremonies, along with our Chief of the Games, Malcolm Ian Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness, Chief of Clan Sinclair.  The Prince will then visit various Games venues and interact with participants and visitors.
 
We invite you and your family to join us in welcoming Prince Edward to the Greenville Scottish Games.

His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, KG KCVO

International and United Kingdom Trustee and Chairman of the International Council of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association.

The Prince Edward is the third son and youngest child of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.  On his marriage in 1999 he was created The Earl of Wessex.  

Following his father and brothers His Royal Highness was educated at Gordonstoun in Scotland.  He spent a year as a house tutor at Wanganui Colleageate School, in New Zealand, and then read history at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating in 1986.  He joined the Royal Marines as a University Cadet but left in 1987, and moved into theatre production through the Theatre Division and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company.  He wrote and narrated two films about the Award shown on BBC television in April 1987, and was involved in an earlier series made by TV-am.  

In 1993, The Prince Edward formed Ardent Productions, an independent television production company.  The better known programmes produced in the United Kingdom are 'Edward on Edward'; thirty half-hour programmes of 'Crown and Country'; the 'Cater Street Hangman'; and a programme on the restoration of Windsor Castle after the fire in 1993.  In 2002 he announced that he and The Countess of Wessex would withdraw from their respective companies, Ardent Productions and R-JH, in order to support The Queen during the Golden Jubilee and beyond.  They would concentrate on helping the Royal Family shoulder some of the increasing workload into the future, by supporting those organisations, charities, individuals and companies who deserve recognition for their effort, initiative and entrepreneurship.

In 1986 His Royal Highness achieved the Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award.  To gain this he participated in activities such as real tennis, building a sailing hydrofoil, training junior Air Training Cadets, gaining his private pilot’s licence and organising and taking part in expeditions in the Cairngorms.  Since then he has been heavily involved with the Award both as a UK and International Trustee, and as Chairman of the International Council, the operating authority which controls the programme and standards in 130 countries.  In 1999 he established the International Special Projects Group to provide a capital fund to broaden the reach of the Award by supporting young people at risk around the world.

The Earl of Wessex’s interests include music, the performing arts, horse-riding, sailing, skiing, and the unusual game of Royal or Real Tennis. The latter he took up at university when he was forced to give up rugby through injury.  His patronage of organisations reflects these interests as well as his support for opportunities for the young, including several theatrical and musical organisations, both amateur and professional, especially those supporting youth in the performing arts.  

The Earl of Wessex married Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones in St George’s Chapel, Windsor on 19th June 1999.  They have a home at Bagshot Park in Surrey, and have two children, Louise born on 8th November 2003, and James, Viscount Severn, born on 17th December 2007.