Sophie Wessex reveals she was determined ‘not to tread on toes’ as she joined the Royal Family – and shares ‘moving’ memory about vigil at late Queen’s coffin

The Duchess of Edinburgh has revealed that she was determined ‘not to tread on toes’ when she first joined the Royal Family.

On Wednesday, Sophie visited L’Arche, a south London community of people with learning disabilities and their supporters and Community Shop Lambeth, a ‘social supermarket’ tackling food poverty. 

It marked her last day of royal engagements as a 59-year-old, as Sophie celebrates her 60th birthday on Monday. 

Sophie spoke to the Telegraph about why she was drawn to organisations that focus on disability and said: ‘It goes back to when I first started to get involved with taking on patronages and engagements. 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.”‘

The Duchess said because she had a background of working in public relations before marrying Prince Edward and entering The Firm, she soon thought she would be best placed engaging with people directly. 

Sophie said that the concept of how people engage with each other differently and the issues surrounding how to raise awareness of this led her to championing this cause.

She said that just because individuals are ‘different’ doesn’t mean they don’t have something to ‘bring to the party’. 

After speaking about how the world can adapt to help those with disabilities, the royal was asked about the moment she saw her children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, alongside their cousins, Princes William and Harry standing vigil in Westminster Hall around the late Queen’s coffin. 

Sophie said she was ‘so proud’ of ‘all of the cousins’ for following protocol and the instructions well, adding: ‘It was incredibly moving, and lovely to see her surrounded by them.’

She also said she wondered whether it would be ‘appropriate’ for James to do it, given that he was the youngest, and around 14 years old when Queen Elizabeth passed away. 

However, Sophie said he was ‘really keen’ to get involved in his grandmother’s send-off, along with Lady Louise. 

But the Duchess could only recount what happened to a certain point before she appeared emotional and said she couldn’t speak about it further. 

Sophie is regularly hailed as the late Queen’s ‘favourite daughter-in-law’, along with the monarchy’s ‘secret weapon’ due to her ‘down to earth’ personality. 

Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor, James, Viscount Severn arrive to hold a vigil in honour of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall on September 17, 2022

The late Queen’s eight grandchildren are pictured a vigil at her lying-in-state at Westminster Hall in September 2022

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, helps serve lunch in the café during a visit to The Company Shop last Wednesday 

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, receives a cake ahead of her 60th birthday during a visit to The Company Shop on Wednesday

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward previously told Ok! magazine: ‘With the exception of her daughter Anne, the Queen was closer to Sophie than any of the other royal women,’ says biographer Ingrid Seward.

‘It really was a genuine closeness, and Elizabeth was always Sophie’s biggest confidante. 

‘The Queen found her very down to earth, because she refused to have expensive security and things like that, and she loved her lack of airs and graces. I think she saw Sophie as a bit of a surrogate daughter, too.’

Sophie will spend her actual birthday at her house located in Bagshot Park alongside her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh and her children Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex, along with their cocker spaniel, Mole, black labradors, Teal and Teasel, and tortoise named Marmite. 

However, the Duchess won’t spend much time off celebrating her milestone birthday, as she is back to work the following day to visit charity Dogs for Autism and a school for children with physical disabilities. 

On Saturday evening, a new photograph of the Duchess of Edinburgh looking happy and relaxed was released to mark her 60th birthday.

The image was captured by London-based portrait, fashion and commercial photographer Christina Ebenezer at Bagshot Park this month.

The Duchess, wearing a cream pleated skirt and dark long-sleeved knit, is perched on a window seat in the image.

Lady Louise Windsor and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day in 2024 

On Saturday evening, a new photograph of the Duchess of Edinburgh looking happy and relaxed was released to mark her 60th birthday

Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh tour the Villa Guardamangia, in Pieta, Malta in October 2024

She appears to have been snapped mid-laugh in the casual portrait by Ebenezer, who is said to find inspiration in classic portraiture and cinema.

Buckingham Palace said Sophie was interested in Ebenezer’s creative style of photography and wanted to support a rising female photographer.

Ebenezer was born in Nigeria, spending her early years in Lagos, before moving to join her immediate family in London.

She has been named both a British Fashion Council New Wave Creative, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Arts & Culture Leader.

Two of her portraits were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Chanel last January.

The Palace said that as the Duchess looks ahead to turning 60, she has a renewed sense of excitement and commitment to her work around gender equality and looks forward to further embracing and championing this issue in the future.