Sophie Wessex ‘relieved’ her move up royal ranks means she no longer has to curtsey to Meghan

Relations between them were said to have become strained when the Duchess of Sussex reportedly turned down the chance to have Sophie Wessex mentor her on life as a Royal.

Now friends of Sophie, the new Duchess of Edinburgh, claim she is ‘relieved’ that her move up the Royal ranks means she no longer needs to curtsey to Meghan.

The former Countess of Wessex had previously been duty-bound to defer to Prince Harry’s wife who, as a Duchess, was of a higher rank.

But Prince Edward was promoted to Duke of Edinburgh to mark his 59th birthday on Friday, meaning that Sophie is now a Duchess too.

A friend of the couple said: ‘Sophie is relieved. She no longer has to curtsey to someone in the family who has not only left Royal duties but has spent the past three years criticising the institution that Sophie works so hard to support.’ 

Meghan explained the intricacies of curtseying in her recent Netflix series.

The Sussexes revealed that before a meeting with the late Queen, Harry asked Meghan: ‘You know how to curtsey, right?’ Meghan told the cameras: ‘I just thought it was a joke,’ before re-enacting the exaggerated curtsey she gave Queen Elizabeth II and laughing.

It is, however, a tradition that the Royal Family takes seriously. Princess Anne was seen giving a poignant curtsey to her mother’s coffin as it entered the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland.

The claims about tensions between Sophie and Meghan featured in Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, by author and friend of the Royals Gyles Brandreth.

He writes that Meghan ‘made it clear’ she didn’t need Sophie’s help and would instead rely on Prince Harry.