A curious story appeared in Vanity Fair this week: “How Prince Edward and Sophie Evolved From P.R. Blunders to Become Key Frontline Royals.” We’re describing Sophie and Jedward as “key” and “frontline” royals now? Apparently. So, VF hooked me with the headline, but there is little fresh tea here. Most of it just old news, repackaged for a new audience, an audience which is perhaps curious about why the Wessexes are doing the most to get attention these days and why Prince Charles is being so openly petty towards them. That being said, there were some comical asides & shady old history stories that I enjoyed, so here are some highlights:
How to describe the Wessexes: The low-key Wessexes, long seen as minor characters in the Windsor saga, have become increasingly visible as the family’s “new ambassadors.” From being among the first royals to speak to the press after Prince Philip’s death to empathetically discussing the feud between William and Harry and representing the queen on official engagements, the hardworking consummate team players are perhaps just what the beleaguered monarchy needs.
Ingrid Seward has a new biography out on Edward: According to Seward’s Prince Edward: A Biography, the queen, soon after meeting Sophie in the early 1990s, noted, “You wouldn’t notice her in a crowd.” Indeed, Sophie and Edward’s desire to live as low-profile, modern professionals led to early years punctuated by a series of self-inflicted gaffes that they appear to have worked diligently to overcome.
The real Edward: According to Seward, he and Prince Philip were particularly close, often going shooting together. While Edward’s upbringing was much more relaxed and less royally regimented than his older siblings’, he was still known, according to Garth Gibbs and Sean Smith’s Sophie’s Kiss, to display “startling arrogance and petulance,” which would continue into adulthood.
Edward & Sophie got along right away: While their instant connection surprised some, others believed Sophie brought Edward out of his royal shell. “Sophie is good fun, a laugh, attractive, and the sort of girl most men would enjoy chatting with,” one friend of Sophie’s said, according to Gibbs and Smith. “Edward is serious, quiet, and as is probably the case with most royals, somewhat arrogant and overbearing. You wouldn’t have thought they were at all suited. But when Edward’s with Sophie, he becomes good fun, too. It’s extraordinary the effect she has on him.”
Diana hated Sophie: According to Smith and Gibbs, Edward’s engagement plans were scuttled by Princess Diana’s infamous 1995 interview with Martin Bashir. According to The New York Post, there was no love lost between the late princess and Sophie, whom Diana reportedly once called “Little Miss Goody Two Shoes.”
Sophie & the fake sheikh: In the tape, Sophie disparaged everyone from Cherie Blair—whom she called “horrid”—to Charles and Camilla, whom she referred to as “number one on the top 10 unpopular people.” Most damning, she appeared to abuse her royal connection, reportedly saying, “When people find we’re working for you, the chances are you’ll get people interested. [They’ll say,] ‘Oh, gosh, they’ve employed the Countess of Wessex’s P.R. company.’”
They leaned into full-time royal work 2003-2007: In 2019 alone, according to The Sunday Times, Sophie attended 236 official engagements (more than Prince William). Sophie has also taken on serious causes and embarked on high-profile solo trips, including a 2013 trip to India to highlight the plight of the blind and a much-lauded trip last year to South Sudan to bring attention to sexual violence against women and girls.
The human face of the monarchy: In the past two years Edward and Sophie have also increasingly become the human face of the monarchy, with a tear-stained Sophie recounting Prince Philip’s gentle death, and Prince Edward publicly speaking of his sadness over Prince Harry leaving the royal family. But perhaps their real secret to success is this—after years of drama, they’ve learned that sometimes simple and straightforward is the biggest star turn of all. “I stay way out of it,” Prince Edward recently said of his extended family’s turmoil. “It’s much the safest place to be.”
It’s becoming more than clear that Sophie put together a communications plan when it became obvious that Harry & Meghan would either be exiled or they would leave of their own accord. What we’re seeing – and what we have been seeing for about 20 months – is a full-blown campaign from the Wessexes. It’s not an obvious embiggening campaign like Kate has done. There’s more nuance to what Sophie and Edward are doing: they’re saying we’re indispensable, you need us, we’re “safe,” we’re the Queen’s favorites, we’ve been working hard for years, we’ve earned an upgrade in every sense. Weird that Ingrid Seward quietly wrote a book on Edward too! It was probably planned as the centerpiece of Edward’s “Duke of Edinburgh” announcement ceremony. It’s pretty epic to see all the ways in which Charles has thwarted them.
Also: “You wouldn’t notice her in a crowd” is such a sick burn from the Queen. I know it’s a “compliment” in the ass-backwards world of royalty, but YIKES.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Sophie made some negative comments about Diana to the Fake Sheikh (after Diana had passed on). She surely is no angel. And also the digs at Meghan in the interview of late.
Her and kate are like 2 peas in a pod. Don’t like anyone who dares outshine them. Its funny because sophie has been outshone for the largest part of her royal life but now she seems to be getting fame hungry.
I wonder what charles william and kate think of all this wessex pr.
And can we please acknowledge that if the palace is instructing the press to make edward & sophie happen, they must truly be desperate?
Problem is, it takes no effort at all to outshine Soph and Ed, so I guess that means she’s going to dislike a WHOLE lotta people.
I think William would have done better to marry a Sophie rather than a Kate, actually. She won’t outshine anyone but she’s willing to work. She’s petty enough that they’d still get along, they might actually like each other as partners. She sucks up to the rest of the family in a way that seems to have worked, at least with the Queen and Philip. She’s capable of pulling off a smarter PR campaign. TOB would be in a much better place today had he married a Sophie, IMO.
I completely agree with you, Lionel. This reads like a shot across the bow to Will and Kate, to me, but not from Charles, so I wonder where it is coming from. One does not point out that Sophie did more official engagements in 2019 than William if they are aiming for the Wessexes.
Looks like Sophie has taken a page from Anne’s book. If she and Edward stop speaking out publicly for a while, they will be 100% more valuable than Will and Kate, in terms of “working royals”.
And didn’t Sophie also call the Queen “A COW” during this period, too? I distinctly remember that. They were dubbed “The Sophie Tapes” and she bashed everyone and *gasp* WAS TRADING ON HER ROYAL TITLE!!!!
On the tape w/the fake sheik , she called the Queen “a dear”. It was the only person she didn’t trash. I’m sure those two words are what saved her as HM genuinely likes her.
Sounds like Diana talked about her too, according to the above excerpt. I was surprised Diana would refer to Sophie as “Miss Goody Two Shoes.” It’s not the worst diss, but I was wondering why Diana would be bothered by her since Diana trumps Sophie in a lot of ways (beauty, height, charisma, etc.) That kind of comments points to…something from Diana’s end. If Diana didn’t like her much, I think it makes sense Sophie might as well not have liked her either. If Sarah had made the negative comments, I’d probably be more bothered.
I don’t think diana made any comment about sophie to be honest. I think that is something Ingrid Seward just made up. Ingrid is here to do the royals bidding. And they’ve been trying to disparage Diana for years. Calling her paranoid and all that.
Sophie was doing everything she could to look like Diana. She was desperate to be Diana 2.0. She also sucked up to the family in a big way. So, Diana really hated her because the family all wished that Diana had been more like her while Sophie was trying to be her.
Sophie was trying to SWF Diana imo. Wearing a similar haircut. And the media was really leaning into it. Diana could be petty, no doubt but I think Sophie was trying to sell herself as a budget Diana without all the baggage.
If I recall correctly, in the Diana book by Tina Brown she made passing reference to Diana was “annoyed” by Sophie in that she felt like Sophie was copying her. While I wasn’t there to observe, the haircut, hair color, etc., did look pretty similar at the time. I could see how that would mildly irritate her.
After Diana died, during the fake sheikh comments, Sophie made unflattering comments about Diana.
I find Sophie way prettier than Diana, actually.
I’ll never forget how rude she was at the Commonwealth service. Let the Cambridges butter her bread. We’ve seen her face.
Maybe Diana didn’t make those comments but I find that Diana had good instincts she disliked some nasty people even before they were outed for their nastiness& racism like Princess Michael of Kent.
Now that it’s been mentioned, I can see why Diana may not have liked Sophie if she was copying Diana’s style. Although Diana’s hair seemed to be popular among news anchors for some reason. When you look at old photos of blonde journalists, they seem to have their hair cut in a similar way. A lot of people seemed to copy that hair style, considering DIana was the biggest fashion icon of her time, even though it hasn’t aged well to contemporary times like hairdos of the past.
I don’t really think Diana always had a great instinct for people though. She trusted Martin Bashir and the stupid horse-riding instructor. I don’t think Diana was a really good judge of character the majority of time when it came to men. Diana didn’t seem to like her kids’ nannies either, and who knows if she got it right there either.
Does ANYONE who wasn’t born from her womb actually like Princess Michael of Kent?
@Larisa: WHAT??? GET YOUR EYES TESTED. Good heavens, it’s true what they say: taste is not an individual thing, it’s just that some people have ZERO.
Sophie looks like a Tesco’s checkout chic and has all the style and grace of a basket of muffins. Jeez, woman: move on….
Bland, white bread …..I could care less if they become the face of the Firm.
I love their PR hustle here. Fight!
Considering that the queen always makes a point of dressing in bright colours specifically so she can be seen, ” you wouldn’t notice her in a crowd” is absolutely a sick burn!
I find the quote about Sophie being “the sort of girl most men would enjoy chatting with” to be really creepy and insulting.
“Sophie is the sort of girl most men would enjoy chatting with” sounds like the British version of “she has a good personality” when the question is, “what does she look like?”
Haha, or “a face for radio.”
LOL. I remember Sophie positioning herself as a well-behaved Diana. During the wedding, the commentator mentioned that many had noted similarities but they were mostly superficial. He went to make a brief point-by-point constrast in their appearance.
Sophie’s 56, why are they still calling her ‘girl’?
It wasn’t really a burn to me at least cos the Queen isn’t some great beauty. So I find this funny coming from her. She is also average looking and the fact she needs to wear bright colours speaks for itself. So Queenie, eh…you too. Lmao. These people.
Would people notice any of them in a crowd if they weren’t born into or married into a certain family?
Alexandria: lol right? The Queen has never been a great beauty. The fact that Claire Foy plays the young Liz on The Crown is absurd. I’d say that Sophie is much prettier than she ever was.
Elizabeth, in the early fifties, was very pretty and had an awesome, of-the-moment figure. The hourglass silhouette ruled that decade and both the Queen and Margaret wore the high-fashion gowns to great effect.
I remember “royal expert” criticizing Meghan for wearing clothes considered indiscreet. Obviously, they didn’t remember the Queen’s own strapless gowns, low-cut sweetheart necklines topped off with the slightest strip of chiffon and cinched waists.
@Anance maybe the gowns elevated her and being young helped but she looks average to me. I find Margaret pretty.
@anance,
That’s hilarious considering Duchess Buttons’ proclivity for biscuit flashing hemlines of recent years.
Princess Margaret was very pretty, I think.
I do think Sophie blends in with the crowd a bit. She’s not unattractive. In fact, I’d classify her as attractive enough. But I do think she’s one of those people who has a more quiet, reserved look as opposed to Marilyn Monroe or Sophia Loren. Today’s standards are, of course, very loud (i.e Kim Kardashian and every Insta-model with the eyelash extensions).
I don’t think the Queen was a great beauty, but I do think she conformed to the standards of beauty of her time (i.e not fat and had her hair done at all times). She has the “I must be the responsible sister” look. Whereas I think you’d notice Margaret straight away (at least before she aged into the Windsor thing that happens to all of them, even the attractive ones.)
Total burn and painfully true.
@ clomo, it was a big burn!! And I don’t think that Sophie is prettier than Diana at all!!
I feel like the push for the Dukedom is more Sophie’s idea than Edward’s. Edward seems like the smart one in that relationship. He seems to want to do his duties and go home. QEII’s shade though 🤭
Let’s not do “blame the woman” here. He was described as arrogant and overbearing and it would have been his decision to take the Earl title and wait on the Duke title, not hers. I’m sure it matters to him big time.
I don’t want to blame anyone, but knowing about Sophie – it seems to be her idea. I do not wonder if they push Louise for some kind of royal duties and if Louise will take the princess title (“Phil wanted his little granddaughter continues his hobby, uh, Princess Louise of Edinburgh, uh, uh, what phil exactly wanted”)
So he’s arrogant, overbearing, and petulant, and she’s a backstabbing, gossiping famemonger who insulted his wife. I can’t imagine why Charles wouldn’t want to pass the Edinburgh dukedom out to that family.
They’re all the same though hahahah…so what does it matter to whom the stupid title goes to.
For real. They’ve both done the most to trade in their royal connections and they are using Philip’s very recent passing to embiggen themselves. They could of at least waited more time to start their little notice me campaign. The couple who couldn’t even be “noticed in a crowd” wants to parade around in the Edinburgh titles because they think they deserve it. Just shameless.
All this wessex embiggening makes me wonder what sophies hand was in the meghan smear campaign.
i think part of the wessex pr is driven by the courtiers telling the press to make E&S happen. I wonder why now, after all these years.
I absolutely believe that Sofiesta had a hand in the smear campaign against Meghan. Her behavior in public towards Meg was hostile at times and she was probably jealous. Sophie has been trying to happen for over twenty years and hear comes a black American woman soaking up the spotlight she think she deserves. This embiggening campaign is simply the Wessex’s trying to remind people why they deserve a bigger profile. Why they deserve to be funded by the taxpayers. Why they deserve the Edinburgh titles. This is nothing more than an entitled tantrum from two nobodies that most people can barely remember.
@Pao – I thought so, too. Both the Yorkies and now the Wessexes made plays for the type of work expected of Meghan and Harry. So, perhaps, they saw opportunities in the staff’s racist reaction to their WOC boss.
Why now? Because they expected Charles to pass on the Edinburgh title; they had Ingrid’s book and everything set up. Now they are using the press to create a groundswell of support.
The Queen better provide for them in her will, because neither of them nor their children appear capable of earning a living outside the rarified world of the Royal duties.
BTW, isn’t Edward a more likely candidate than the Earl of Snowdon to manage the Prince’s Trust?
Oh no Dont let Ed and Sophie near the princes trust! They cant be trusted with money. They’ll have the thing bankrupted in a year.
@Pao, I dunno how much Sophie was involved in that smear campaign, but by all accounts Sophie was and remains someone with an overly inflated sense of self-importance. She’s just good at hiding it, and coming off as mild-mannered.
They seem to be pushing Louise out to the media. They really should be making plans for her to get to University instead of promoting her.
By all accounts, they are doing both.
Wow, the Sophie PR machine is really in overdrive at this point.
How many times can one article call Edward arrogant, lol.
But I guess at least Sophie outworks William.
I wonder if that dig means that Will is in on refusing the DoE title.
@Equality: seeing as both the biggest Cambridge cheerleaders (Dan wootton & Richard Kay) wrote about charles not handing the wessexes the Dukedom in a negative tone I highly doubt william is against the wessexes receiving the title.
I think William would like the Edinburgh title for Louis, but he doesn’t want to be *seen* as wanting it.
Not much of an achievement though. Your average tourist to London does more to promote British businesses than William.
This is equivalent to her Maj’s innocent “what does she do all day?” Re: Katie Keen during the Waity years… which burned her so bad she had to run to Jigsaw to pretend to work.
I wonder if Sophie heard this quip of Betty’s and that’s why she had thar Diana style makeover around her wedding? To stand out?
That top pic! My God they look like children of the corn, almost. All fakely posed the same way.
Did they practice those head tilts and hand clasps beforehand?
Children of the corn!! Dead on, that photo reminds me of the family of blood from Doctor Who.
No matter how they “pose”, they still look creepy and evil in every photo and every PR campaign. Sophie needs to give it up. Sophie if you didn’t shake the trees 20 years ago, you aren’t going to shake them now!! Plus, she is certainly someone that should NOT be trusted!!
I’m not fond of any of them, but Charles is short on royals willing to work that aren’t retirement age. He should stop being petty and use them.
Yeah, we can debate whether the royals “work” and how important it is etc, but under the current standard for royals, Charles needs more bodies and Sophie and Edward are willing and able to work. Especially since their children are older, they are able to do more day trips outside of London, or 2-3 day trips throughout the UK.
Do “common” people really feel “touched by royalty” after speaking with Countess Goody-Two-Shoes, who they wouldn’t notice in a crow if she hadn’t married an “arrogant” prince?
I mean, they “work”, but is their bustling about Britain useful in any way (even just PR wise) to anyone ever? You want a royal endorsement, ok you don’t expect the Queen, but at least Anne… and you get Sophie? Anne and Camilla at least have personality. One is an actual princess, the other is fun and scandalous – that’ll give you something to talk about!
(Diana had a turn of phrase – and I cannot begin to imagine what she thought when Sophie tried to be a poor man’s version of Diana herself. I would be creeped out)
We wouldn’t like it because most of don’t like the royals. But to the average Brit, if you met the Countess of Wessex or any royal in general, you would be happy in a “wow I met a royal!” in the same way you may go “wow i met a celeb” even if said celeb is a D-List reality tv star. And some would even brag to anyone they met that they met a royal.
And before anyone says anything, I’m not saying that Ed and Sophie are important nor that people are begging to meet them. I’m just saying they’re good for those engagements where a royal, any royal, needs to meet people and bring that royalty “magic” (which is dead to most of us but exciting for the general pop, even if it lasts a day)
Other royal families have just the King/Queen and Crown Couple doing the majority of the work. It works for them, it can work here.
Charles could (if he wanted) pick and choose the more charismatic members of the outer circle who are already being noticed: many of the Kent grandchildren, (for example Lady Helen Taylor’s 4 attractive children) the Chatto Brothers, the Gloucester grandchildren. They would build up a quick and easy PR campaign to stress these photogenic people as very close to the throne and legitimate royals: because descended from George V. They they can style themselves as “royal”. It could work. Almost anyone can become a celebrity given the right PR and an ability to speak a few cogent words (unless you deal in buttons and bows and belts as your lingua franca).
Yes, exactly. The RF needs people willing to work to justify the outrageous taxpayer expenditures. Charles isn’t going to get that from the Cambridges.
The drama around everyone else in the RF sells papers, but that’s about it.
So what if the Wessexes are boring. They work.
Charles doesn’t need more royals. He needs the ones he has (William and Kate) to get the f*ck to work. Charles does 500 engagements a year and only works around five months of the year. If W&K were made to work 40 hpw, they could cover at least 1000 engagements per year each.
Edward and Sophie have many faults, but they were pulling in around 300 to 400 engagements per year each, with Edward closer to 450 some years. And they still have youngish kids. If Charles wants to slim down the working group, then William and Kate must be doing 400 engagements each right now. But Kate barely passes 100 and that’s with bs meetings added and William barely gets to 200. If they weren’t lazy slugs then Charles could easily turf the rest of the family. But he’s let them get away with being lazy for way too long.
I wouldn’t notice Sophie in a crowd of one (by herself), much less a real crowd. LOL
If Diana disliked Sophie, that’s all I need to know
Raise your hand if you think Charles has forgiven and forgotten Sophie’s remarks about him and his fqc. Anyone?
Oh yeah-there’s zero chance he’s forgotten that. Hence why Sophie sucks up to Will and Kate-she’s looking way ahead.
Yeah. He’s petty and vindictive. He has not forgotten and has kept that in his back pocket for future revenge. That moment appears to have arrived. What a life. Constantly having to suck up just to have funds to survive. No wonder they are so jealous of H&M.
When I was a kid, one of my friends had a dog named Sophie. I haven’t seen that friend in about 20 years, but despite seeing a post mentioning Countess Sophie here just the other day, when I read the title of this one, I STILL thought of the dog first. So yeah, I’d say the Countess is pretty forgettable…
I am impressed with the long play of this – it’s pretty smart to keep “working” and then strike when the proverbial iron is hot. I think they may have overplayed their hands a bit with the grief tour. But Kaiser is exactly right – this is a message to Charles: you need us. Now that won’t get Edward in the title he wants but it will keep them in the fold.
The Royals are a tradition-bound group, cemented by arcane protocols and expectations followed without the need to codify them into law.
Charles is breaking tradition and expectations here. He can have the best reasons but change embroils the Royals in turmoil. Because he may alter other expectations, too. Individuals planning their lives around inheriting specific privileges and sinecures. He can upset that, easily.
For example, what if Charles decides that in “Diana’s memory” Kate will be styled as Duchess of Cornwall when William becomes PoW? What if Charles makes a condition of William’s investiture? It’s already been floated in the press.
Charles has no jurisdiction over “Diana’s Memory.” I think he will not get himself involved in that since he divorced Diana eons ago and he married Camilla. He cannot speak for Diana, he divorced her when she died she was no longer his wife. William and Harry are the heirs of Diana and Charles is not. Charles can make William and Kate wait a few years, that will be irritating enough to rile Will up.
Charles doesn’t. I just think he is not happy that Camilla can’t style herself as Princess of Wales and he has been gunning to have her crowned Queen since he married her, despite significant public opposition. At this point, it is still unclear how Camilla will style herself as queen.
So, I can certainly see him paying Diana back (in his mind she’s responsible) through his son’s wife. Styling Kate as Duchess after William becomes PoW has already been floated about in the press.
I’m not sure about the Queen’s comment on Sophie. It doesn’t ring true to me because at the time she was presented as Edward’s fiancee the main talking point was that she looked like Diana. Anyway, I agree that she did devise a PR plan for her and her husband to become more visible. In fact, I think it was first set in motion when Meghan joined the family not when Harry and Meghan left the family. Months after Meghan was made to give up her UN Woman role we saw Sophie at the UN talking about women in conflict zones. I’d say that Sophie’s PR tactics were accelerated when they left and intensified when Philip died.
Picking up on something Pao said up post, I do believe Sophie played a small part in the smear campaign against Harry and Meghan because there was a concerted effort to promote Sophie and her husband when Meghan joined the family. The press started touting that Sophie was a feminist. When she left the family the press was lobbying that Edward take over her role at the national theatre. I think the latter may have even started before Meghan left.
The Queen’s comment is just the kind of thing she’d say. It’s important to her that the Firm are not outshone by the marrieds-in. So saying Sophie wouldn’t be noticed in a crowd is a sign of approval from HM.
Unlike Meghan who was always making Kate look haggard and beyond her years when they stood anywhere near each other which must have irked Kate too no end. I bet that really bothered both of them, Sophie and Kate, how much prettier Meghans beauty. As someone else said here with a different example, it’s like Dodge Dart compared to a Ferrari. Meghan looks 15 years younger than Kate and 30 than Sophie. Envy makes people evil.
All of this Amy Bee. Sophie wanted to be the ‘crusader for women’ in The Commonwealth. Meghan’s arrival put the kibosh on that (temporarily until Sophie helped drive them out).
“In 2019 alone, according to The Sunday Times, Sophie attended 236 official engagements (more than Prince William).”
This sums it all up for me. Here is the question: If Sophie did not perform these 236 official engagements then who would have done it? Charles has a problem in that people expect a royal to come and open their local fete if they request one. If the request is denied, I am sure the villagers will view the decision as their real “English” hamlet not being big enough or important enough to warrant a royal visit. If I am correct, this is a big OUCH!
There are actually a lot of young, hip royals outside the main line. lady Amelia Windsor is a socialite of the moment, lady Gabriella (daughter of Prince Putinski and Brooch Bitch) has some glamour, I’m sure they, and other royals outside the main line, like Lady Sara Chattos handsome sons, could be conscripted for part time duty. They wouldn’t even need to be paid by the sovereign grant. Charles, as future king, could fund them from the duchy of Cornwall on a contract basis (and set a precedent that his brat son would Loathe). Voila, you have a new young, hip royal cast of characters that can lend some real star power to the village hops. Maybe give each of them a stipend for x many local visits per year. It wouldn’t be too expensive because you’re not paying for housing— just wardrobe, travel, and maybe a personal assistant and 1 security officer.
But when have these gold dust covered shit courtiers come up with any innovative ideas?
I know what you’re trying to say but that would never happen even if the courtiers were competent. All of them aren’t in the main line at all. Or anywhere near it. Yes they’re all as irrelevant as each other in the eyes of the public but hierarchy and place matters a lot to these people. Sarah Chatto’s kids are around the 20s in the line of succession and Amelia and Gabriella are around in the 40s. Nobody knows or cares for Edward and Sophie are but at least they’re the son and daughter-in-law of a monarch. Amelia and Gabriella are the granddaughters of the monarch’s cousin (so William and Harry’s 3rd cousins) and the Chatto boys are the grandsons of a spare. That doesn’t compare with son and daughter-in-law of a monarch.
Again, I got your point of “there’s glamorous royals on the fringes they could use!” but they’re not going to ever be considered. Ever. I doubt Charles even knows who half of them are.
Great idea. I fear Lady Louise is short in the glamour/beauty department.
Right. The fact is, Charles does need them. QE is not long for this world, Charles and Camilla themselves are in their 70s now, and the Keens are famously lazy af. They don’t seem to want much, just the title which was promised to them, more acknowledgement for their work, and to retain their current lifestyle. That said, Charles pushing back against them is fine by me because those two basics should have kept Meghan’s and Oprah’s names out of their petty mouths.
Charles doesn’t need a larger work force. He needs the workers he has, W&K, to work.
Part of the problem now is there is no central scheduling. Royals accept invites individually, instead of invites being sent to a main system. That’s a big part of what Charles needs to fix, especially when it comes to W&K. Charles will set their work schedule, not W&K.
Now what happens? You can have three royals in the same town the same day, each doing a different ribbon cutting event. Schedule five events in one day in that town, have one royal cover them all. You do that? Five engagements a day, five days a week, forty weeks a year. That’s 1000 engagements/royal, and they’d still get three months of holiday a year.
I actually have no issues with them their PR is logical, we’ve been there for a long time, we do our job, we’re safe. There was no need for Sophie to ignore the Sussexes at the commonwealth event or the shady comments about Oprah and the interview.
Add coward in that description of Ed. He stays well out of the family drama and won’t stand up for what is right. That is why he spoke to H&M at the commonwealth service, to play both sides. I was starting to think more highly of him despite the dog abuse claims but not anymore.
What dog abuse claims?
https://www.theinternetpetvet.com/prince-edward-abuses-dogs/
I didn’t know the bit about Diana not being a fan of Sophie!
How many times can they call Edward arrogant? lol. I love the constant digs at the BRF about how they are all arrogant. so good.
Queenie hit her with the “you’re the least interesting to look at!!” Sheesh.
The problem is that the Wessexes are duller than stale five-grain bread. They have to pizzazz, no oomph, no wow factor, no sex appeal. It should have been: Cambridges == dull/”dependable”; Sussexes == sexy/exciting. But they got rid of the Sussexes. You can’t have two dull couples. No one wants that.
Actually, that is exactly what the Royal family wants. Dull is very much their brand.
Camilla doesn’t seem dull, something odd, but not dull. She seems like she would fun to party with, I will give her that. The rest of them, other than H&M seem really boring or unpleasant.
I would not want to party with Camilla, she really is not a nice person to me.She was on the surface nice to Lady Diana and pretended to be her friend and was backstabbing her. A fun person would not hang around after her lover married someone else. I don’t see the woman as “fun.” She is out for herself, and she has a habit of freezing out people who even vaguely criticize her or so I read. I also read her neighbors at Raymill found her to be rather snobbish. I don’t like the next two consorts and their husbands. I am holding out some hope for George.
Camilla isn’t considered dull, clomo. Many who meet her on engagements talk about how engaging and fun she is.
That creepy undertakers photo of them is the gift that keeps giving.
Lol–if only this had been taken with a fisheye lens.
LOL Can you imagine looking out the peephole of your front door and seeing THESE three on your doorstep, standing like that! lolololololol
It’s a black comedy in the making. Maybe Eddie’s entertainment dreams aren’t dead (no pun intended). Or alternatively just a second career when everything is slimmed down?
Britain’s answer to Norman Rockwell’s American Gothic
The Queen probably meant that as a compliment. She wants and likes boring and dependable. And considering Sophie’s sisters-in-law included/includes Diana, Fergie and Camilla, having a boring and dependable in-law is perfect in her eyes.
Good for the queen, maybe; good for the monarchy, 50/50. Sophie works hard. But no one cares,
For the monarchy that’s fine. Great actually. As we’ve seen with the Sussexes, no one can outshine the heirs so having dull but dependable royals who aren’t their heir is what they want. Sure no one will care about them but no one (according the monarchy) is supposed to care about them, so it works out.
I see the point, but I still think that without the support of young people, longevity of the monarchy will falter. There’s no one interesting to justify the bill.
I agree @Sofia. TQ has probably had her fill of “glamorous” starting with her sister and then Diana. Kate has the “dull” part down but flunks on the dependable and hardworking part. Sophie is probably right up her alley.
I thought the queen mum was known for quips like that. Lol. The queen also said of Keen ‘but what does she do?’
For excellence in the category of Book Most Likely To Go Straight From the Printing Press To the Dust Bin Without Ever Being Cracked Open, the nominees are: Ingrid Seward, for Prince Edward: A Biography.
LOL
“to empathetically discussing the feud between William and Harry”
They spelled mocking and dismissive wrong.
If I were in their “crowd,” say I somehow married a random minor family member for love and just wanted to live my normal life, I would be very happy not to be noticed in their crowd. It’s not really the sick burn old Betty thinks.
These people seem rather less problematic than most of the rest of them, to be honest.
Put Elizabeth in regular clothes any where in the world would she stand out in a crowd? I would probably pass her in the supermarket and not even notice. This family of average people is so full of themselves.
Charles with his swollen feet and fingers may not outlast the queen. He comes across as a miserable human being. It’s not Edward’s fault that mommy loved him second best.
Why is being a future king not enough for Charles and William. Why is the destruction of their siblings so paramount to them?
I remember that before Sophie and Edward married, Diana had told someone that, ‘she didn’t have it’ meaning: star quality. It was blunt, but I agreed. But now we are hearing a similar sentiment from the Queen back then? First I am hearing that.
I also remember Sophie thinking Diana copied her hair cut, by tucking her hair behind her ears. Maybe Diana did, but she was still the world’s most photographed woman.
I honestly think the main reason that the Queen + everyone else in charge “approved” of Sophie is precisely because she had zero star quality. They could count on her to not get the press attention that Diana got for being so charismatic, or the negative press attention that Fergie got for all of her shenanigans. Sophie being a non-entity meant that she wasn’t a threat to the main starring players, ie the Queen, and Prince Charles, which is exactly what the royal family wanted. The Queen was deeply irritated at how the press would focus on Diana rather than her, and Charles was flat out angry and jealous that Diana was better liked by the public than he was. These people feel that their status and rank within the royal family means the public should care about them more, and they have no way of understanding that that’s not how any of this works.
Sophie and Edward were never meant to be working royals. Yes she’s dull, but she wasn’t seen as a threat to any working royals because she and Edward were supposed to disappear.
“You wouldn’t notice sophie in a crowd” no sh*t, I wouldn’t notice sophie in a empty room.
Well summat is going down. Me thinks the death of Phillip may have changed the dynamics and the Wessexs know they will be left out in the cold once the queen dies too. I think they kissed the Keens ass hoping to keep their foot in the door. But Willie is too volatile, plus no one cares about the Wessexs enough for Willie to throw under the bus.
Plus Charles hates them too, so they are threatened. If we know anything from Kate’s behaviour, embiggening campaigns usually come when their position is under threat, so I wonder what’s going on.
They’ve always known and been worried that they’d be left out in the cold, especially since Charles has been so vocal about “slimming down the monarchy” once he becomes king. Philip dying is really the first test, because it’s the moment of truth wrt the promise they were given at the time of their wedding, which is that the Duke of Edinburgh title would pass onto Edward once Philip passes away. The fact that it’s looking like it won’t be, in direct contravention to the Queen and Philip’s wishes, is the biggest change brought on my Philip’s death.
I think they cultivated a relationship with the Keens because they hoped that having a future Prince of Wales on their side might help to better represent/campaign for their interests with Charles. But they underestimated the sort of relationship that Charles and William actually have, if they really think that Charles is going to give a fig about what William thinks he should do, or that William would speak up for them at any turn. And now, considering how Charles and William are starting to slowly turn away from the Queen’s mandate of never explain, never complain, their years of subtly massaging their PR and public image have also come to nothing. Because no one outside of the Queen gives a sh-t about how their lack of drama is what makes them an asset to the monarchy.
AND…Sophie was sitting next to a fellow executive at her PR firm who offered COKE and a “rent boy” (Brit slang for sex worker) to a client. She did nothing. I am old enough to remember when this came out. So Sophie is way way worse than the VF article acknowledges, which means that there are things she is trying very hard to hide. Here is a link to the Guardian article from 2001: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2001/apr/08/uk.news
I’m enjoying this public fight too much😂it’s so pathetic seeing the wessexs running to DM to tell him “don’t betray your father’s promise” n whatnot. If this keeps going we’ll definitely see their self destruction in 20yrs! There’s clearly no loyalty or unity amongst them and as time goes by the in-fighting & begging via tabloids will escalate to leaking damaging secrets like affairs n illegal activities
It makes it absurd that the some tabs blame Harry and Meghan when it is clear this family self destructs all on its own. And have been doing so for years.
As far as PR campaigns go, this is pretty top-notch, although people who have observed just how grasping the Wessexes have been over the years would be able to recognize it pretty much right away. Sophie’s entire shtick, for years at this point, has always been about what loyal soldiers she and Edward are, and always have been. How contrite they were after their scandals, how they “graciously” gave up their PR company professional days to dedicate themselves to being full time royals. How, while their children are entitled to the style of Prince/Princess, they prefer for them to be addressed as the children of a royal earl (because they’re just! so! down to earth!). How close they are to the Queen and Prince Philip, how their children see them as nothing more than just their grandparents, not as the monarch and her consort. How their quaint little cottage, Bagshot Park (which has 120 rooms), is close enough to Buckingham Palace that their children can nip around for tea with the Queen, and spend time going out riding with her. How Louise learned the sport of carriage riding from Philip himself. How they don’t plan for their children to be working royals. How Sophie’s father is the picture perfect parent of a married-in royal, who stays out of the public eye and has earned the Queen’s respect for how down to earth he is. How close Sophie is to the Queen, and how the Queen has come to rely on Sophie as the rock in her family for years, and how the Queen is so happy that out of all her children, it’s Edward and Sophie who have the rock solid marriage that she would have preferred for them all.
I mean, it’s ass-kissing at its finest. Which makes sense, given that Sophie worked in PR prior to her entry into the royal family. She likely knows how to craft a narrative that will appeal to the public, how to lay it on when necessary, and when to pull back when it’s not. Edward and Sophie have successfully managed to bury, in the public memory, any recollection of things like the fact that Edward got a very undeserved place at Oxford when he didn’t have the grades to get in at all. Or the fact that Sophie is apparently very hard on her staff, and has been photographed screaming at various staffers on multiple occasions over the years.
Or how they put their children in the public eye for PR points for years by now…by talking endlessly about how they don’t want their children in the public eye. How they’re just a normal little middle class family who’s happy to be of service to the Queen and nothing else. All while their teenage daughter has been photographed at carriage riding competitions (to highlight how she has shared interests with Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), and horse shows (to show she likes horses, just like the Queen).
And it’s worked rather well. You don’t see any of the shambles, unlike with Charles, William, or Andrew. These two keep their noses clean, and most importantly, make sure everyone in the world knows it. Diana, who didn’t acquit herself well with Sophie, still summed up the reality when she said Sophie was a “little miss goody two shoes.” Which is absolutely right. Sophie is the class suck up, the teacher’s pet. She capitalizes on everyone else’s messy personal lives and public image by contrasting herself with them, and by casting herself as the “good” one, the “drama free” one, who cleaned up her act after the Fake Sheikh sh-t. This is the sort of PR William and especially Kate have been trying to attempt for so long, but did poorly. The best PR and propaganda is when you don’t even notice that’s what it actually is, and people have missed the reality about Sophie for a long time.
Delete
Well said.
I do sort of feel for Sophie, though, as much as I like Diana, with the ‘little miss goody two shoes’ comment. The daughter of an Earl, aristo to her fingertips, for generations upon generation, still felt the constraints and expectations of being ‘royal’. Add to that Diana’s unique personal charisma and charm which made even her faux pas adorable (eg getting Charles name wrong at the wedding). Sophie is middle class, I believe. Of course she’s not going to have the same freedoms and ease as someone brought up in those circles. When she tried to find her own path with the businesses it was a disaster- yes, her own fault, but it’s not at all surprising that the only road to redemption for them really was exactly what they’ve done. Behave, do what’s expected, smile nicely, don’t stand out, keep your mouth shut. Even then you won’t be one of us, you will always be expendable. Sounds like what Meghan was actually told, right? The whole loathsome class system in England is sick, and it makes people behave in sickening ways. Read any English book written in the last 300 years and the class system slaps you in the face. I even feel some sympathy for Carole Middleton in this regard- mocked for being an air steward, who had ambitions to better her family and provide a better life for her children than she grew up with. In that society, better and best and accepted or not accepted is judged not by personal fulfilment or wellbeing or intellect or goodness or even wealth but by the class system, and the BRF are top of the pile. It’s not at all strange to see people contorting themselves and their morals to fit within this twisted system, it is more noteworthy to see people who can stand apart from it and know their own worth as human beings. This also explains how Brexit and racism have been harnessed and used politically, in that those on the lowest rungs still can imagine a sense of superiority and entitlement over anyone black or coloured. So, I don’t find it in myself to be too critical of the Sophies, the Caroles or the Kates. Would I make those choices myself? No. Do I think it leads to happiness? No. But at that time and place, for them- I get it, and I get that they might even believe that it is worth it.
Ok, I expect this opinion won’t go down well.
The problem with the Middletons is not that they’re from a lower class than aristocracy, but that they deny their humble beginnings, pretend to be posh (down to changing the accent), and instead of using their privilege to serve, use it as a weapon. And Sophie has been just as bad. Their experiences as non-aristocratic married-ins should have filled them with compassion for Meghan, but instead, we saw who they really are. Sorry it’s not flattering, but they made those choices. I don’t feel bad for any of them.
No one notices Sophie’s ass now!
Throwing mud does these people no favours.
Meh. We know they’re only frontline because they’re down to the dregs by attrition.
Prince Edward always looks like Art Garfunkel to me…minus the big poofy hair.
This is how you can endear your family to the public sophie,
Enroll your daughter to any university to be a veterinar.
She will be the 1st queen lineage who will have a respectful carrier.
She will be so famous and respected, you can ride on her coattails for years to come.
Many non-working royal Windsors have respectable careers. Snowdon, Lady Sarah Chatto, etc.
To be honest, the royal family need Edward and Sophie. The Sussex’s are not coming back and there are not enough people that can continue doing royal engagements.
Charles should give Edward the Duke of Edinburgh title and be done with it. The star power of the royal family is done. There is literally no one else that can join the family that would make anyone interested until about 20-25 years from now when the Cambridge kids decide to get married.
They may decide to turn George, or maybe more likely Charlotte, into the royal version of a “child star” a la Macaulay Culkin, Olsen twins, River Phoenix, etc. with all the drama they can wring out of that.
This family is a mess. they all want something now that the Queen have about 5 or 6 more yrs to live. they want to secure themselves. The Queen took care of all of them.guess the queen also had a hand in paying for all their studies .Charles is saying it ends with him, he will not be taking care of extended royal families. The royal blood that is worth anything is only the heirs.Sophie/Edward had a long free ride..dressing up ,doing events. they had nothing else to do anyways. for that they got taken care off. clothes, food, home being taken care off, staff being paid ,vacations are paid for ,no stressing when is their next pay cheque. they can’t afford to live this way without money from Charles. That title DoE is Edward/Sophie lifeline. this reminds me about cases i have read, when the family wants the inheritance,and they start kissing up before the person or parents,or a rich uncle or aunt dies. guess the Queen will leave all her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren something in her Will to help them out . Charles is about to disown his whole bloodline except the future Heirs. when it comes to the Queen saying no one will notice Sophie in a crowd,lol i won’t notice any of them in normal everyday life ,i only notice the Queen cause she dresses in such bright colors in public.in her everyday clothes at her home,i won’t notice her at all if she was walking around in public, she would look like any other elderly lady. and people will just walk on by not taking a 2nd glance.