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The Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie Wessex, has confessed that she initially struggled to find a meaningful role within the Royal Family, fearing she might be “treading on toes”.
After marrying Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, in 1999, Sophie became the Countess of Wessex. The couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary last year, and in 2023, Charles bestowed upon Edward his late father’s title, Duke of Edinburgh, making Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh, a title previously held by the Queen.
Despite being one of the most diligent members of the Royal Family, Sophie, 60, revealed that it wasn’t always easy to find her place. According to The Daily Mail, Sophie was initially hesitant to carve out a role for herself, fearing she might be encroaching on others’ territory.
She recalled: “I was trying to find, not a unique thing for myself, but a direction of travel I suppose. And, of course, inevitably every time I went down a route, I found a member of the family working very hard doing something and I retreated a bit and thought, “No, not there”. Treading on toes?”
Sophie has navigated her Royal duties with aplomb, becoming patron of more than 70 charities and organisations, including Childline and Shooting Star. The Duchess of Edinburgh hasn’t shied away from discussing the initial challenges she faced upon joining the Royal Family.
After exchanging PR for royalty upon her marriage, Sophie said: “The frustration was that I had to reduce my expectations of what I could actually do,” reports Surrey Live.
(Image: PA)
In public relations, voicing opinions was par for the course for Sophie Rhys-Jones, but post-1999 nuptials, she had to adjust her outspoken ways.
“Certainly it took me a while to find my feet,” Sophie shared, noting that one of her trials was tempering her expectations of her influence and contributions.
She revealed that there once was a time when shed offer business insights at charity events, only to realise later that her position required her to adopt a more ornamental stance.
The Duchess explained the transformation, stating the need to be the “icing on the cake the person to come in and thank their volunteers and funders not necessarily to tell them how to run their communications plan.”
Through embracing this change, Sophie has emerged as an integral part of the Royal Household, frequently heralded as the Royal Family’s “Secret Weapon” due to her dedicated engagement and support.
