Royals: Sophie Wessex plants a rose for Prince Philip

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Sophie, Countess of Wessex is expected to attend the second day of Beating Retreat, an annual event of military and musical spectacle, on Wednesday. Running from Tuesday, July 5th – Thursday, July 7th, the event will take place on Horse Guards Parade and will feature a colourful pageant of military music and precision drill, carried out by the Mounted Bands of the Household Cavalry and the Massed Bands of the Household Division. A salute is then taken by the Royal Family.

Sophie is known to be interested in military history and holds multiple honorary appointments in the UK and Canada.

She is the wife of the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and upon the day of their marriage, the pair became the Earl and Countess of Wessex, a move that strayed from royal protocol.

Typically, the monarch’s sons are given dukedoms on their wedding day, but Edward made a special request to be named the Earl of Wessex, having reportedly been inspired by Colin Firth playing Lord Wessex in the film, ‘Shakespeare in Love’.

However, Sophie had originally had another title in mind.

Writing in Vanity Fair, royal commentator Katie Nicholl claimed: “The Countess of Wessex had wanted to be known as Princess Sophie, but the Queen would not allow it.”

It is likely the Queen rejected the request for a different title due to the protocol and tradition that goes with the royal title of Princess.

Only women born into the Firm are known as Princesses, such as Princess Charlotte, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice — as daughters of the Queen’s children and grandchildren, they are all directly descended from the Royal Family.

Sophie, on the other hand, married into the Royal Family so her titles are always related to her husband’s — she is styled as the Countess of Wessex because Edward carries the Earldom.

Similarly, she could use the title of Princess Edward of Wessex, much like Princess Michael of Kent, but could not use her own first name as it would suggest she was born a royal.

According to Ms Nicholl, she is not the only royal newcomer who tried to secure the Princess title.

She claimed: “Despite being given the title of Duke of Cambridge, William let it be known on his wedding day through one of his key aides that he wanted to continue to be known as Prince William.

“By default, Kate is likely to be addressed as Princess Catherine.

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“It will, no doubt, rattle some cages within the royal hierarchy.”

Ms Nicholl made this prediction in 2011 — the year of the Royal Wedding.

However, despite an initial attempt from the prince’s PR team to get the public to refer to his wife as a Princess, 11 years later, the couple continue to go by their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Daily Telegraph claimed in 2011: “Paddy Haverson the Prince of Wales’ communication secretary, suggested the public be encouraged to use the names Prince William and Princess Catherine if they preferred.”

However, the name ‘Kate’ has stuck rather than Catherine, and the royal is still known as a Duchess rather than a Princess, meaning that she is most commonly referred to as Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

It’s thought William’s team had planned to cast Kate in the same light as the beloved late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The title of Princess of Wales was bestowed on Diana upon her marriage to Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Following the Waleses divorce in 1996, Diana kept hold of her Princess of Wales title but was forced to give up her ‘HRH’ status as she no longer represented the Queen in a formal capacity.

In 2005, when Charles married his long-term girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles, the title of Princess of Wales was technically transferred to the new royal wife.

However, out of respect for Princess Diana, who tragically died in a car crash in 1997, it was decided that Camilla would use her secondary title, Duchess of Cornwall.

The next person to be styled as Princess of Wales could be the Duchess of Cambridge, who may take on the title if William becomes the Prince of Wales after Charles’ ascension to the throne.

It is royal tradition to bestow the title on the monarch’s eldest son and heir apparent.

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