Sophie Wessex joins Girl Guides ‘act your age’ campaign

After the departure of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry from the Royal Family, and the stepping back of Prince Andrew from royal duties, there is an increased focus on Sophie and Edward. In December, the Queen was pictured with her seven senior royals: Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William, Kate, Princess Anne, and Edward and Sophie. This was interpreted by many to be Her Majesty establishing her New Firm.

Royal author Angela Levin told Express.co.uk Sophie and Edward will “step up” now, and already have done since the Sussexes moved to the US.

What’s more, 91 percent of Express.co.uk readers voted to say they would like to see Sophie in an increased role after Megxit.

However, in the past, Sophie found it difficult when she was thrust into centre stage.

According to Ingrid Seward’s book ‘Prince Edward: A Biography’, public interest in her grew after she started dating Edward, resulting in numerous stories about her in the press.

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A host of acquaintances from her past materialised and claims ranged from speculation about her true hair colour to whether or not she had a good singing voice.

Sophie found the probing into her background “most unnerving”, because she had never been under such scrutiny before and, unlike Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, had “no experience of dealing with the Royal Family”.

Ms Seward claimed Prince Edward “pleaded” with the media to leave him alone so his relationship with Sophie could “develop” in its own time.

She said: “Sophie was his girlfriend and, as far as Edward was concerned, that was all there is to it.”

However, instead of issuing a statement through Buckingham Palace, he “chose to handle the matter himself”.

At the time, Edward no longer “drew monies” from the Civil List, and so emphasised his status as a private citizen.

When he found out royal biographer Andrew Morton knew about his relationship with Sophie, Edward was reportedly difficult to calm down.

He felt it was his sister-in-law Sarah Ferguson who was “to blame”.

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The Earl had once been close to the Duchess of York, also known as Fergie, but according to Ms Seward had “come to believe that she had made a fool of his brother”.

He even became “convinced she had leaked the information about Sophie to her press contacts”.

The Queen summoned her younger child to a private sitting at the Palace and “explained to him how unfair it was to accuse the Duchess of such disloyalty”.

Edward, who had a strong grasp of the “niceties of royal protocol”, immediately apologised to his mother for any upset he had caused.

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As far as Edward and the Queen were concerned, it had been a minor family incident.

However, the book claimed Andrew Morton’s source was actually an employee rather than a member of the family.

Ms Seward added that Edward had a “lifetime’s experience of shielding his romantic feelings from public scrutiny” and “simply went through his professional paces and got on with the job on hand”.

His relationship with Sophie has been dubbed the “least complicated royal romance of modern times” since it began in 1993.

In fact, Edward is the only one of the Queen’s children to not be divorced.

He and Sophie, who tied the knot in 1999, have two children: Lady Louise Windsor, 17, and James, Viscount Severn, 13.

Sophie is said to be the Queen’s favourite daughter-in-law.

Prince Edward: A Biography’ was written by Ingrid Seward and published by Century in 1995. It is available here

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