I decided to devote a post to Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, formerly the Countess of Wessex. I didn’t immediately see photos of Sophie at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday night, and as it turns out, the BBC didn’t even show Sophie during the Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying at the Cenotaph.
Royal fans were left scratching their heads after the Duchess of Edinburgh was not shown on the BBC’s Remembrance coverage alongside Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales.
In years gone by, Sophie has stood on a balcony overlooking the annual service with Kate and Camilla, meaning she was easily picked up by the TV cameras. However, like last year, she stood on another balcony of the Foreign Office, this time with Princess Anne’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence. And once again, the move meant she was not shown on the live TV coverage – meaning some royal fans even questioned whether she was at today’s event.
I have no idea? My guess is that Buckingham Palace demanded that all eyes be on King Charles, Queen Camilla and maybe some attention to William and Kate. As we’ve seen before, the palace places a lot of demands on the BBC for all of their coverage for big state events like this. The palace says: no one cares about Sophie.
For the Festival of Remembrance, Sophie wore a new dress from ME + EM – a £250 piece with puffy “fishnet” sleeves and velour. While this dress is far from perfect – the shoulders and the ruching are a complete tragedy – I actually think Sophie picked something which is generally flattering and nice. For the Cenotaph, Sophie chose a repeat – this is a custom coat dress by Suzannah London, which she also wore for QEII’s state funeral. The floral motif is supposed to be Lily of the Valley, QEII’s favorite flower.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Sophie, Countess of Wessex attends The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall on November 11, 2023 in London, England.,Image: 821399183, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Sophie, Countess of Wessex attends The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall on November 11, 2023 in London, England.,Image: 821399193, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Sophie, Countess of Wessex attends The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall on November 11, 2023 in London, England.,Image: 821399203, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh at the Remembrance Sunday Service at The Cenotaph in London.,Image: 821566571, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / Avalon
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- (L-R) – Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence at the Remembrance Sunday Service in Whitehall – Whitehall, London, England, UK on Sunday 12 November, 2023 to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflict.,Image: 821581199, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- (L-R) – Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence at the Remembrance Sunday Service in Whitehall – Whitehall, London, England, UK on Sunday 12 November, 2023 to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflict.,Image: 821581587, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Well she is the secret weapon so to be secret she should not be seen…
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@vs 😂😂😂
She’ll have to order a new article saying SHE is the secret weapon.
The coat dress is pretty (wonder if Khhhate was jealous of the buttons but they were probably too subtle for her taste). These women do not choose flattering hats.
😀😀😀😀😀😀 I bet kate declared ” buttons are for me ” . Anyways I loved Sophie’s dress too.
Kate envious of her skin. Unless she’s got a photoshop budget, poor Kate looks like her older sister.
That’s what I was thinking–Sophie has lovely skin. The balcony thing is Charles’ doing; this is his ‘monarchy on a budget’–the monarch & immediate heir only, then their spouses. Everybody else to the back & side.
Exactly. Sophie has the “English Rose” complexion Kate is famed for, if you place store by such stuff.
Seriously. Where has Edward been?
Wondered the same thing….
Same
I believe he is behind William, long all black coat.
I notice she appears to be wearing a “glazed donut” manicure, which is surprisingly au courant.
Other than that – this institution hasn’t been dismantled yet?
Sophie’s outfit at Saturday’s event more daring than Kate who is ten years younger than her.
Good point. The dress is more daring and interesting even if it isn’t perfect. Sheers at the remembrance ceremony!
I thought something similar – its not her best look, but at least its more daring and interesting than what we usually see from Kate. And we’re saying “daring” but its obviously still appropriate to the event.
Sophie is far prettier than Khate any day of the week. Always has been. She can look somber without looking hard and has a natural, lovely smile not a demented Joker showing of the teeth.
And in many of the photos I’ve seen, she looks younger than Kate.
I definitely prefer Sophie’s earrings. Very tasteful, not gaudy. Sophie wears her jewelry, it doesn’t wear her.
I totally agree. She has a quiet beauty, which gets better with age. She essentially looks more at home in her own skin. Perhaps she is also happier with herself and her marriage, which is reflected in her appearance.
I think the BBC was instructed not to show her because she looks younger than Kate even though she is more than fifteen years older.
Show Sophie or not and who cares, but the decision to not show Sir Tim (a vet with over 20 years of service) on the balcony is a choice. He should be in the actual parades instead of Anne. I’m sorry, but all I can think when I see a good deal of their clothes is how Meghan would have been criticized for the same outfit.
All of those women look awful to me. Historically they are very nasty entitled women who feels they are entitled to adoration. Unfortunately for them all, times are changing and more folks are seeing the institution and them for what they actually are, grifters.
Nope, mesh will never not look cheap to me.
Sophiesta will always be a second-rate, mean-ass, copycat bigot to my eyes. I’ll never forget the way she treated Duchess Meghan at QE2’s funeral. She threw her lot in with WanK. Good luck with that!
Why is that woman ‘curtseying’ to Sophie in the thumbnail picture? She’s a married-in whose husband is so far away from the throne that the throne is a dot to her! Bloody ridiculous. As for Sophie not being filmed/photographed see above!
It’s also worth noting there’s also the possibility they don’t want the three witches of Windsor standing together, as it would remind people of the awful images at QEII’s funeral when all three of them went out of their way to isolate the Duchess of Sussex.
Ridiculous bowing down to any of them.
I would never do anything but stand upright. I wouldn’t even say “your highness”. I think this self-subjugation is pathetic. I would say a polite hello, most likely without waiting to be “spoken to first”.
Sophie and Kate looked the same age at this event, which is bad news for Kate. Wonder if Sophie was relegated to the B-list balcony to avoid shots of her and Kate together so Kate didn’t have to deal with that direct comparison?
And I really like the embroidered coat (coat dress?). It’s possible to wear something black and appropriate without leaning into military detailing just because it’s a veteran event!
I think ceremonies like these are reasons that the BRF won’t be dismantled. There are so many of them and it’s easier to have a figurehead be there than keep trying to get an elected politician who is likely to muck it up.
Pretty sure they also have the PM & a few other members of government at this thing.
Yeah but who’s going to be attending them in 20 years when Charles’ generation is gone? It’ll be just William and he won’t even want to be there. All he will have is the three kids and they will just make all the same excuses about being young that he made before he was 30 and started showing up occasionally.
How about the actual military and military heroes being enough to be in this sort of ceremony? Or the families?
Does this feel to anyone else like a release from Sophie’s publicist? It feels quietly bitter that Soph wasn’t on the balcony with the “first tier” royals, and then didn’t get shown at all on the coverage.
Like, are there really Sophie super fans that were lighting up the switchboards at the BBC, demanding to know the whereabouts of the most boring spouse of the most boring son? I think not.
I know people don’t overly like her, and her behaviour in the cathedral towards H&M was awful, but Sophie always strikes me as having quite a raw beauty. It’s odd, I know. She doesn’t seem to try too hard, perhaps because she thinks she’s not overly special, and in a backward way comes out looking nice. I also have an admiration for how hard she works, with little pomp and ceremony, compared to the rest of them, apart from Anne. On major ceremonial occasions, such as the remembrance balcony, she’s the one who looks the most regal and sincere to me.
The Queen was especially fond of her we have been told, possibly because she and Edward have stayed married and drama free amid all the divorces and scandals elsewhere in the family. I also remember the obvious snub to Meghan and not planning to change my mind about her.
agree. The queen said something along the lines of having two daughters, Anne and Sophie. She was apparently very impressed by Sophie’s attitude to her projects – which was at that point, probably still is, to get herself there under her own steam and research the projects thoroughly. Not too much caring about her looks, more about what she’s got to do. Sophie made a huge mistake early in her royal career, has been at times cruel, but there is a work ethic there.
Every time Sophie stands near keen, I have this vision of Kate singing, (screeching) that old police song “, Don’t stand so close to me”. Kate and Sophies relationship, such as it was, was finished after Sophies outing with will, when will and Sophie were pictured together looking relaxed and happy. Keen ran screeching to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and thought “NO she’s not getting near me again, not with skin that good, and willy better not be late tonight,, or he will have questions to answer, now I’m going to phone mummy and have her phone her tame reporters
@mary pester
Question –
Do you think Kate at any point in her relationship with William has ever had the power or the guts to question anything that William does? Camilla’s supposed advice – shape your life around him – is what Kate did from the second she got him in her sights. So it’s not like she would do anything to rock that boat. I also can’t imagine that she also wouldn’t peg him until she collapsed from exhaustion. Anything for the heir. I feel like she has done everything and anything to get him and hold onto him – I don’t know why – that I can’t imagine her balking at any request.
Although she did shrink from his touch in 2019. And everyone always talks about how William can’t stand to be around Kate and is disgusted by her. But she was disgusted by him first and showed it in public. I think his narcissistic monster went mad and that’s why he removed himself from her. That a person like HER would react that way to HIM is beyond acceptance. Thoughts?
Yes the whole Sophie going with William was a real choice and very telling. At the time everyone wondered if it was payback for Sophie taking the fall for the motorcade accident for someone higher up and killing that elderly woman. Everyone assumed William. Maybe camilla since any witnesses would have seen light hair and that’s it.
I wonder if it was Kate? I can’t imagine William would put himself out of joint for Kate but maybe the institution would.
@moxilady, I’m not sure keen would, but I think he knows that her mother would not think twice of running to her media mouthpieces and briefing them, even if it’s with bullsht!, and I think your right that it was either keen or camzilla in that car!
Agree, she’s pretty & looks nice here. Only thing that bugs me is her hair. Too long & stringy, makes her look matronly. Wish she would get a shorter, more stylish cut
I think Kate would throw a fit.
How old is Sophie? She looks far younger than Kate, by at least 10 years.