In Prince William’s recent birthday “profile,” which was organized by Kensington Palace, sources once again spoke about how William will count on the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh when he’s king. In William’s kingship fantasies, he knows that he and his wife still won’t work much, so he’s already expecting Sophie and Edward to pick up the slack. William seems fond of Sophie, but she’s probably yet another older woman who knows how to work his ego (much like Carole Middleton). Sophie comes across as a bit of leech, running the same play on William that she ran on QEII, telling everyone that she (Sophie) is the favorite, the chosen one, the secret weapon who can step up and do the heavy lifting! Well, here’s the latest from Sophie’s PR shop:
She has long been thought of as the royals’ secret weapon and being a savvy peacemaker. But now Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh — who was once described by Princess Diana as “Little Miss Goody Two Shoes” — is braced to play an important role in the family’s future. And the duchess herself is believed to be delighted with the idea of more frontline roles and responsibilities.
Since the banishment of Harry and Meghan, and Prince Andrew’s fall from grace, the team of working royals has been down to the bare bones. After the death of Queen Elizabeth and the cancer woes of King Charles and the Princess of Wales, the shortage of major royals for public duties was even more stark. Step forward Sophie, 60, who will now play a distinguished public role in the Royal Family.
Both William and Kate are very fond of her and Edward, 61, who have proven to be steady hands in an otherwise turbulent family. Sources say Sophie — mother of Lady Louise, 21, who is due to graduate this summer, and 17-year-old James, the Earl of Wessex — is keen to relieve the work pressure on Charles, Camilla, William and Kate.
A source who knows her well says: “Sophie is very keen to take on more work for the Royal Family. Until now she has been a bit like Princess Anne — someone who has done a hell of a lot of travelling to engagements all over the world without any real fanfare. The places she has gone to are often not very fashionable, to say the least, but she happily goes and gives each engagement her all because she knows she is representing the King. The duchess is very good at doing her own research for those engagements and writing her own speeches, as does the duke. I suspect that as she takes on more work for the family, Sophie will have to have more staff. Because at the moment the duke and duchess only have one live-in member of staff at their home in Bagshot [Surrey], who doubles up as a personal secretary.”
A few points. One, notice how Sophie has basically written off the current king as a lost cause when it comes to her quest to be a bigger, more important senior royal. Charles and Camilla don’t actively hate Sophie and Edward, and the Edinburghs are not shunned anywhere. But Cam and Charles aren’t highlighting their work or singling out Sophie for praise or anything. Sophie is seen as what she is – a boring worker bee for the Firm, someone who doesn’t ruffle feathers (because no one pays attention to what she’s up to). That’s not magically going to change when William is king either – sure, she’ll have more to do, but the British press will still ignore her for the most part. The thing about funding is super-interesting too, and that’s probably the point of this story. Sophie is setting terms! She’s telling William: I’ll do whatever you want during your reign, but you better give me a real office and some staff! I also don’t believe that Sophie and Edward are THAT lacking in staff, btw.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
