Countess Sophie is doing a four-day tour of New York: will she get much attention?

Very recently, I kind of wondered to myself where the Countess of Wessex has been. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Sophie had been trying to make it happen, and she was clearly pushing herself as a “replacement” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It got so much worse following Prince Philip’s passing, when Sophie pushed weekly stories about how great she is, how the Queen adores her and how the Queen wants Sophie to get more attention. Then last summer, Prince Charles shut down the Wessexes and basically told them to go sit down, that they were being obvious and it was gross. It was a lot! But I guess they got the message… or did they? As it turns out, Sophie is in the middle of a four-day tour of New York. Lol. This family needs the American media market so badly.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex is spending time across the pond! Queen Elizabeth’s daughter-in-law arrived in New York City on Monday for a solo four-day visit. While family members — including Prince Charles, Kate Middleton and Prince William — were celebrating Commonwealth Day with the annual service at Westminster Abbey in London, Sophie marked the occasion by visiting the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in lower Manhattan. She even grabbed a shovel and helped plant a rosemary bush.

Sophie, 57, met Consuls Generals from across the Commonwealth who are based in New York and stopped by the St. George’s Society of New York, which has supported those with British and Commonwealth heritage in the city for over 250 years. She also attended a Commonwealth Day reception.

During her trip stateside, Prince Edward’s wife will deliver the keynote address at Upholding Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, an event hosted by the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan, United Nations Women and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

Last year, Sophie joined the 65th Commission on the Status of Women virtual event put on by the Afghanistan Mission, the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the U.N.

“We need to ask, why are men so afraid of having women in the room?” said Sophie. “Women are the people who are going to enact the peace. Afghan women have shown that they are so effective in acting for peace.”

[From People]

I really had to go looking for this coverage at People Magazine. I mean, good for Sophie, her little tour is getting some coverage in the American media. I hope she tells Americans about how people only know Oprah from “chat shows” and “Oprah who?” I hope she goes on and on about how she’s the Queen’s favorite and how Prince Philip would have wanted her to seek the spotlight. This four-day tour should be seen as exactly what it is: the Windsors begging for attention from the Americans. We know that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in particular want to make a big splash in America this year too.

PS… She’s basically traveling with a photographer and those are the only photos of her trip. She, um, isn’t being covered by the actual New York-based photographers.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

77 Responses to “Countess Sophie is doing a four-day tour of New York: will she get much attention?”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Becks1 says:

    to answer the question – “will she get much attention?”

    No, no she will not. How many people on here have asked over the past few days “why isn’t Sophie attending the commonwealth service” or “where’s sophie been lately.” And a lot of us are pretty royal-savvy in terms of who we follow on social media etc. I haven’t seen this visit get any coverage besides a random post from one of the Royal Family’s social media accounts. Did any members of the rota go with her?

    • equality says:

      How many people in the US would say “Sophie Who” or “I didn’t know there was another brother to Andrew and Charles”?

      • Chaine says:

        Pretty sure no one here knows who she is except die-hard Royal fans and Celebitchy readers. The only time I remember seeing her have any wide coverage was when she got married and there were headlines like “Charles’ brother marries Diana-lookalike” and that was it.

      • Seaflower says:

        This.

      • Cel2495 says:

        lol, no one care about this woman here.. I live in New York and I had no idea she was here. No one cares . Poor Sophie 😂

    • Lemons says:

      @Becks, I was also like…the answer is “No.”

    • swirlmamad says:

      That’s what she gets for saying no one in the UK knows who Oprah is.

      • DuchessL says:

        She knows she fxcked up bad attacking Oprah. I feel like she is the sacrifice animal they are sending to the states with minimum photographer and PR and see how people are going to react to it. Of course if its hostile, they’ll multiply that by 1000 for the Cambridges and if it’s not too bad, they might be able to plan some kind of lazy visit to the US where Kate will wear an american brand

    • ELX says:

      They have to be pretty desperate at this point. The Q will pass soon—where’s the money going to come from?

    • Lorelei says:

      I live here and had absolutely no idea Sophie was here until I just saw this headline on CB. So.

      • Feeshalori says:

        Neither did l, my local New York radio radio station which reports on everything didn’t pick this up at all. Sophie is here and gone in a New York minute!

  2. Ced says:

    Short Answer: No.

    Longer Answer: Haha, No.

  3. Layla says:

    I would love to see Meghan resume her partnership with UN women. She would do amazing things.
    Also I have a feeling we might be getting a tour to the Netherlands soon

    • MsIam says:

      This begs the question of why Meghan had to shut down all her UN connections? They made it sound like it was inappropriate or “too political” but was it because that’s Sophie’s thing?

      • lanne says:

        Neither. Meghan was supposed to be a doormat. She couldn’t outshine Kate. She was supposed to be pushed down so much that she would leave on her own, without Harry and without any children

      • Iz_Q says:

        How is it too political? Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is involved with the UN. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is patron of the UN Population Fund and has been a member of a high level task force involving women’s issues as well. I am sure there are other royals that have associations with the United Nations.

      • Because Meghan’s whole existence is “too political” for that racist institution. The real reason they made her give up her UN role is because they don’t want her to have anything that garners her any type of influence, respect, or positive attention whatsoever.

    • Z says:

      Why in the world is she doing commonwealth events in AMERICA, of all places?!

    • The Recluse says:

      You know, if ‘civilians’ like Angelina Jolie can do things on behalf of the UN, then Meghan should feel free to do so too.

  4. Amy Too says:

    The leather shirt/dress thing she’s wearing looks painful, it’s so tight and her chest is so squished.

    • Jais says:

      Honestly, when I saw the leather dress, I thought she was trying to capitalize on the success of The Batman. It’s her batsuit! But actually, I kind of give her props for this, regardless of whether it works or not. Kate would never! But maybe she should? Kate’s scowling, or trying to look serious, face could be interpreted as low key dominatrix vibes and she could lean into it. Throwing silly spaghetti ideas at the wall to see what will stick for Kate as an alternative to the coat dresses and buttons. William’s face, if Kate shows up in all leather at the next movie premiere, would be worth it.

    • BeanieBean says:

      That’s what I thought–wow, that does not look comfortable. And I agree with Jais, Kate would never, but wouldn’t it be a kick if she did? She’s been copying Diana, and Diana wore leather pants to something once.

  5. Pinkosaurus says:

    If she does do well, I would expect Buttons Mutton to start gunning for Sophie for making her speaking skills look bad in comparison. The best outcome Sophie can hope for is low-key mediocrity that is not threatening to the FFK and Q, or we will start seeing negative stories planted by Carole.

    • equality says:

      All of the other family members have made Kate’s speaking skills look bad already. Sophie doesn’t get the attention though so she’s not a threat.

  6. Merricat says:

    Agreed. No one cares if Sophie is in New York, or anywhere, really.

    • PaulaH says:

      Sophie could run butt naked on any street in the USA and NO ONE would care nor pay her a second of attention.

      • Charm says:

        Uh-oh……there go all the talking clowns back in the Uk that say H&M are only popular bEcAusE oF tHeIr rOyAl StAtuS.

        BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!

  7. Cessily says:

    They can keep trying, I do not see it happening ever but it is amusing in a pathetic sort of way to see it in real time.

  8. Randie says:

    Wow! Her hair doesn’t look like she just crawled out of bed. She actually fixed her cowlick.

  9. Sue E Generis says:

    What is this? Perhaps she was sent to test the waters for a possible Cambridge incursion? Also, WTF is that quote?

    “We need to ask, why are men so afraid of having women in the room?” said Sophie. “Women are the people who are going to enact the peace. Afghan women have shown that they are so effective in acting for peace.”

    What is she even saying? It sounds like words for words’ sake.

    • equality says:

      It makes no sense. For there to be peace everybody will have to “enact” it.

    • Emma says:

      yeah, that and . . . a lot of women don’t work for peace anyway, especially when they reach rare positions of power. Like Sophie cares about peace.

    • PaulaH says:

      @Sue: Sophie doesn’t expect anyone to truly listen to what she is saying. She, William and Kate don’t really care about the words they use just as long as something is coming out of their mouths so that the Royal Reporters can make into whatever they please.

    • Charm says:

      Um….thats camouflage-speak to copy/not copy M saying “Women need a seat at the table” and other things she’s said about women and their voice and about equality – a lot of which have been quoted by folks around the globe since Women’s History Month (March) began.

      Sophie just wants to hide and parrot/pretend that she’s not doing a copy/hope folks dont draw comparisons.

      • PC says:

        In all fairness, the “seat at the table” reference is a famous quote by Shirley Chisholm from the 70s. It’s repeated/rephrased a lot.

    • Mooney says:

      And that doesn’t even make sense. Peace is the last thing that women in Afghanistan have right now. They were the first targets under the Taliban regime.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        Yes, the Taliban were quick to remove any control women had in their lives. They were being removed quickly from their education and their contributions to the workplace, as the Taliban lied to the world. The Afghan women have been silenced and they will never be free as long as the Taliban remain in control.

  10. Likeyoucare says:

    Poor sophie,
    No one want her at the commonwealth day in UK.
    She had to be sent to the US instead without the ROTAs to make sure she didnt have the spotlight.
    Poor poor sophie.

    If a tree fall in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

    Does what sophie works on even have an impact if no one care about them.

    • Charm says:

      You forget: the royals dont do impact……….Meghan came in and disrupted their cushy little deal where they turn up, grace the hoi polloi with their presence and get to continue their centuries-old grift.

  11. MsIam says:

    Is she going to stop by Melba’s? And did the mayor and the governor meet with her too?

  12. BeanieBean says:

    And apparently they’re making Sophie walk everywhere?? What’s that about??

  13. elaine says:

    She came to Toronto a few years ago and no one noticed.

    • Nic919 says:

      I vaguely remember that now that you mention it. It certainly didn’t get the press that Harry did when he was here for Invictus.

      • ShazBot says:

        I remember it because she actually gets to do some pretty cool stuff on these tours – I guess because it doesn’t come with fanfare so they don’t have to worry about big crowds etc.
        She did some cool stuff with surgical robots at UHN. She actually has a great job? Enough fame to get access to do and see some great stuff, with near zero publicity therefore no criticism or intrusive reporting.

  14. s808 says:

    so……what’s the point of this trip?

    • swirlmamad says:

      Exactly. If no one gives a flying fig where Sophie is, all this is is a waste of taxpayer money.

  15. Louise177 says:

    She barely gets attention in England so no Sophie isn’t going to get attention in NY. I think this is more about Sophie than the RF. Nobody here knows who she is. This won’t bring attention.

  16. HeatherC says:

    So a British citizen traveled over the ocean to a non commonwealth country to celebrate commonwealth stuff (and do other things maybe). These are your tax funded royals, UK. Good luck.

  17. Roo says:

    I think she was sent as the test subject to see how the US and its media would react to one of the salty royals.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Roo, if so, they went about it very poorly because barely anyone here even knows she exists. There won’t be crowds of photographers and reporters shouting questions at her (afaik there’s no US media really covering this visit at all?), so it’s not a true representation of how the Cambridges would be received. The BRF is utterly screwed.

  18. Over it says:

    I won’t lie, I didn’t know that the queen had a 4th child or that he was married and had children till I knew Harry and Meghan were getting married and they were mentioned. I bet I am not alone in not knowing sophie existed. Lol. Obviously I do now but many people don’t. So nope, no coverage for her .bye sophie

    • Lol, same here! Before Meghan came along I didn’t know shit about these people: I knew that Charles maybe had another sibling, but I didn’t know how many or any of their names. I didn’t know about Philip at all and just assumed the Queen was a widow, since nobody ever mentioned a “king” when speaking about her. I did know that Fergie existed because she was over here doing corny stuff like Ocean Spray and Weight Watchers commercials when I was a kid, but I always assumed that she was maybe just the wacky Cousin Eddie of the family or something. Meanwhile, Harry was always sort of in my peripheral vision, since we’re about the same age and he always seemed to be doing interesting things and also had a lot of attention with his eligible bachelor status, but I had stopped paying attention to William altogether after the “teen heart throb” years, save for the big moments like his wedding and the birth of his kids.

      • Jennifer says:

        That is probably because the only interesting thing Edward ever did is “It’s A Royal Knockout.”

      • Lorelei says:

        @AndAwayIGo, I am lmaoooo at Fergie as “the Cousin Eddie” of the family. Perfect 😂

    • Feeshalori says:

      I was always aware of Edward, l used to watch his Argent productions featuring famous castles all the time before it got yanked by Charles and William. I was fascinated that a royal prince hosted a TV show and he was pretty good at it. He was also so extremely handsome when younger. I also remembered his wedding to Sophie.

      • equality says:

        I’ve seen some of Ed’s work recently. I wonder if Charles yanked it because he was jealous since he has an interest in architecture.

      • Feeshalori says:

        Equality, l wouldn’t be at all surprised.

  19. GR says:

    Un, no, no one knows she’s here. Or cares.

  20. Lexistential says:

    I’m in NYC and I’m wildly unenthused. /sadtrumpet

    (Traveling with your own photographer seems so lamewad.)

    • Eurydice says:

      If she didn’t have a personal photographer, there would be no photos of her.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        That was my thought as well! And his name, Rookie! What a name to use for his Twitter account. But at least he is making Sophie look better than what the RR’s do to CopyKeen. Though, that’s a tough job making her look decent and not ancient.

  21. Saucy&Sassy says:

    Huh, I wonder if they sent her to see if any questions about Randy Andy will come up? I doubt the US media would ask her anything about it if they bothered to show up. Sofiesta simply isn’t known here by the masses. She certainly wouldn’t speak for the heirs and that’s who the US media will want to question. Just a thought.

  22. Amy Bee says:

    No, she won’t. And it’s funny that the Royal Family made Meghan give up her work with UN Women and World Vision but here’s Sophie practically being allowed to do the same thing. From the get go, the Palace was afraid of Meghan overshadowing the family.

  23. Plums says:

    Sounds like a couple of speeches and meet and greets to justify a brief New York holiday as a work trip, tbh.

  24. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    But did Sophie get POLICE PROTECTION????

  25. BabyX says:

    I think you are reading this the wrong way. Sophie used to travel to US/Canada yearly before covid. This isn’t about attention, it’s about money. She’s doing what Prince Michael and Andrew used to do, use royalness to bring in money. Think of how many “American Friends of …” type organizations exist and how they would love validation by a royal visit

    • AmB says:

      Finally, something makes sense – there IS money involved. I’ve been scratching my head over why they’re so hipped on the US and their image over here. But if it’s true that there are such organizations (round these parts we go heavy on Scandinavians, not Brits), that does make some sense. (Just “tourism” seemed awfully squishy to me.)

  26. 809Matriarch says:

    I see Arthur Edwards finally got to take royals pix again. Bet He’s still weeping over Harry & Meghan though because Sophie is NO money maker!

  27. tamsin says:

    Perhaps they are trying to garner some attention for Commonwealth Day outside of the UK. In New York, all Commonwealth countries probably have a consulate. I live in a Commonwealth Country and I had never heard of Commonwealth Day until recently. I see it as an occasion to indirectly celebrate the British Empire, since originally the Commonwealth was made up of former British colonies. I could be wrong here, but I think the Commonwealth was created in George VI’s reign when former colonies all started to regain their independance. His intentions might have even when good- a club to help “new” countries negotiate the big wide world so to speak. I don’t imagine much is done to celebrate Commonwealth Day outside of London. All the embassies participate, but there’s not necessarily anything happening in Commonwealth countries themselves.

    • Likeyoucare says:

      My country didnt celebrate this too.
      It doesnt make a blip in newspaper or television,
      If they do it certainly make our elderly inrage because of the deceit of those colonizer did to my country.
      We even learn it from our textbook still.

  28. Feeshalori says:

    Sophie, if you want to immerse yourself in NY culture you have to jaywalk!