Prince Edward appeared to be in good spirits today during a royal engagement in Leeds.
The Duke of Edinburgh joked that he did not need to be reminded how old he was as he was presented with a rugby shirt to mark his upcoming 60th birthday on Sunday, March 10.
Edward joined his wife Duchess Sophie and visited Headingley Stadium on International Women’s Day and they were each given Leeds Rhinos shirts.
The Duke laughed as he noticed the shirt had “HRH 60” on the back and said to his wife: “Yours is more subtle than mine.”
He told the young players: “Thanks a bunch. I really need to be reminded.”
Sophie held her shirt up with no number and told the girls: “I’m much younger.”
The Duke continued to be amused by the number on the back of his shirt and he said: “Even I know there aren’t that many people on the field.”
The royal couple watched girls from four Leeds schools go through rugby training drills and chatted to them – asking about how they got into the sport and how their current season was going.
Edward and Sophie also met two pioneers of women’s rugby league – Julia Lee, the UK’s first female Rugby League referee, and Lisa McIntosh, a former Great Britain rugby league captain who was the first woman of colour to skipper a British sports team.
Both are involved in a project to ensure the story of the first generation of female rugby league players is heard more widely and they showed the royals around the exhibition of the history of women’s rugby league.
Later, the couple attended a community sport and recreation awards ceremony, where the Duchess paid a sweet tribute to her husband during a speech, with Edward looking visibly moved.
After Sophie’s speech, the couple were pictured in a sweet moment together as they embraced.
They will later hand out awards to female rugby players to celebrate International Women’s Day.
