For years and years, there have been heavy insinuations that King Charles doesn’t really like Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, aka the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. Charles actually made them wait a few years before handing over the DoE titles, and Edward and Sophie actually tried to threaten Charles with updating their kids’ titles (Lady Louisa could have been Princess Louisa when she turned 18). Anyway, long story short, Charles finds himself short of “working royals” under the age of 80, and Sophie and Edward have been begging for more work and more money for many years. So this situation has become a marriage of convenience.
That being said, Sophie is very good at kissing ass. She’s always been good at that – she used to tell everyone that she was QEII’s “favorite,” and I guess Sophie is angling to be the king’s favorite in-law now. Sophie and Charles both attended the Royal Windsor Flower Show on Saturday (they arrived separately), and Sophie made sure the photographers captured her deep curtsy to the king and some cheek-kissing. Queen Camilla is sharpening her knives as we speak! Honestly though, the way Charles and Sophie sort of clutched each other is… interesting.
This whole thing came just one day after Sophie accompanied Prince William to the Royal Cornwall Show, where they looked especially happy and relaxed with one another. Sophie certainly is good at sucking up to the king and the heir. She and Edward basically need money from the sovereign to keep up appearances at Bagshot Park, I guess.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- King Charles III and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Royal Windsor flower show Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh performs a curtsy to King Charles III Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- King Charles III and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Royal Windsor flower show Featuring: King Charles III and Alan Titchmarsh Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- King Charles III and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Royal Windsor flower show Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- King Charles III and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Royal Windsor flower show Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh performs a curtsy to King Charles III Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- British royals attend the Royal Windsor Flower Show Featuring: Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, King Charles III Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
Such an undignified life. Didn’t the queen leave Edward anything?
Everything goes to the heir otherwise they have to pay death duties.
She’s stashed money offshore and created trusts. Loads of ways around that. She spent 12 million on Andrew’s suit. Charles set up trusts for Camilla, children and grandchildren. I’m sure she left Edward money otherwise his kids would have nothing.
Even if she gave them a million or two, how far would that go? Bagshot park is huge, think of the costs…
What a genius way to keep the rest in line. Get the siblings used to a life style they will never be able to really afford and then kiss arse and toe the line for the heir so they can keep up the lifestyle.
I don’t think that works. Andrew still lives in his mansion and Charles pays for his security.
Anne is the only one with a property that is income producing. I have no idea how Edward and Sophie are able to keep Bagshot Park afloat, there are no outbuildings or other homes that could provide income.
I would be pissed if I were Edward and Sophie, that is one enormous home with absolutely no way to make any money to keep it up.
Edward and Sophie tried to do it in the real world. They couldn’t manage it. They collected a lot of debt and then Sophie got caught up in a secret recording talking sh*t about BRF. So, yeah, they have to bow down in order to make it.
Also. Even if monetarily, they are set. That the Queen had the foresight to do that without Charles going behind her back and ruining her plans …
Sophie saw KC3, in real time, put his own child and his child’s wife and children in mortal danger. Revoke their lease and kick them out of the home gifted to them by the Queen as a wedding present, while waging a war in the media and through various government adjacent agencies to cause the Sussexes as much pain, harassment and character assassination as possible while seemingly keeping his hands clean. In addition to the very obvious public attempt on their lives in NYC.
She’s scared shitless of Charles and she has ever reason to be.
@Friendly Crow, definitely, what they are doing to H&M is also a message to all those left behind. If they ever say no, they can do the same thing to them. That is why they are trying so hard to make H&M look like failures. Otherwise, they have to accept that you can live a peaceful and rich life outside of BRF.
My first thought was maybe she tipped forward in her curtesy – wedges don’t seem like an optimal curtsing shoe – and he reached out to steady her?
But the images look like a woman beseeching an uncaring monarch to spare her husband or children. It’s straight out of a historical drama.
I was thinking the same thing: Bad shoes for curtseying, bad knees/hips. You can see one shoe popping off as she gets up, so that was my guess.
Yeah, I don’t think she intended for any of this to happen.
Just…the absolute absurdity of being expected to greet YOUR OWN FAMILY this way. Is it the same in private?
Apparently so, Miranda. Harry would even bow to the statue of Queen Victoria, if I recall from Spare. It was at the top of a staircase.
It’s either at Sandringham or possibly Balmoral, but my money is on Sandringham.
Well, if I were to name a royal who’d come back and haunt your ass for not showing deference to their statue…yeah, Victoria definitely would.
Apparently, and it is complicated, Before the late Queen died, if Kate met Beatrice without their husbands then Kate had to curtsey to Beatrice, because Beatrice is a princess of the blood but if Kate was with William then Beatrice would have to curtsey to Kate, because William is higher up the pecking order than Beatrice. If Lilibet were older then Beatrice would have to curtsey to Lilibet because Lillibet is higher up. It doesn’t count with children. I don’t know how it works now Kate is Princess of Wales.
@Sunnysideup: This incorrect. Royals are only required to curtsey to the monarch. But it’s true that the Kate loses her rank if she’s not with William. We saw that when she went to the Anzac Day church with Harry and the Duke of Gloucester in 2019.
“The Duchess of Edinburgh is “relieved” she no longer has to curtsy to Meghan Markle after the latter quit Royal duties for the US. As the Countess of Wessex, Sophie was previously required to show deference to Meghan due to her higher rank.”
The reason they still exist is because Victoria knew how to play every hand she was dealt. They should definitely bow to her.
What would happen if one of Charles relatives can’t do deep curtsey because of arthritis.
Off with their heads
They’d give him a bag of cash.
Yes, apparently. Remember Meghan being so surprised that she was expected to curtsy to QEII in private when she first met her? i think she said in one of the interviews that she knew it was expected in public 100% but in private wasn’t she just harry’s grandmother? But she was always the queen first.
Trying to outdo Beckham in being sycophant
So embarrassing. Sophie having to bow before the great man.
But his humble subjects don’t have to do it if they choose not to. But I doubt that you would get your knighthood if you didn’t. Of course for the royals it is all about staying in favour.
I think curtseying to Charles like that is just degrading. She went so low her foot came out of her shoe.
It was so poorly executed it was a total embarrassment. Kate never did more than a cursory, ever so slight knee bend to the Queen. Honestly I thought she was doing something else entirely.
Kate has never done a curtsey the proper way. She does a half ass bob.
That’s why the entire concept of a curtsey is incredibly stupid and demeaning. Anne does the same and it looks stupid in modern dress.
Originally when they were in ball gowns with wide skirts it wasn’t supposed to look that odd.
Anyway a modern monarch would explicitly ban the custom. A bow like the men do is more practical if they want to keep that nonsense.
(William isn’t going to stop this practice either)
But this is the crap they want Meghan to do for Kate. So that tells you the mentality of the people who think this is ok.
Kate has got it off pat, I’m surprised that Sophie overdoes it all the time. You would think that she had had long enough to get it right.
Kate absolutely does not do it right. A curtsey to a monarch is supposed to be as low as how Sophie is doing it. Yes it is silly but thems the rules. Anne also has done a low curtsey for the king of Spain.
Kate failed the princess training because her little knee bend would be what you would do for someone of lower rank.
Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Eugenie have been seen doing a deeper curtsey for the Queen.
The foot coming out of the shoe was funny. It was very low. Idk why but it reminded me of when Anne bowed so deeply for the King of Spain.
That curtsey Anne did to Felipe was degrading too.
Agree. That’s prob why I thought of it actually. It’s just funny bc somehow a baby mama video is cringe-worthy whereas in reality this deep bowing is the cringiest of any cringe.
I thought that was kind of a cute moment bc Felipe was laughing at her in a “come on now you’re being ridiculous” kind of way. it was clear he didnt expect or demand such a curtsey.
Yes it is silly, but etiquette wise Anne was doing it properly.
For all the attacks on Meghan trying to do it right, it is Kate who remains garbage at it.
If you work a decade to be in the royal family, you should have learned the archaic etiquette properly m
Kate and William have also been assholes to Felipe and Letizia, despite that couple being higher ranked. Same with Frederick and Mary.
They are really trashy in the royal world.
It doesn’t even look like a curtsey. It looks like she tripped and Charles caught her.
Maybe she kind of did and that’s why the foot is coming out of the shoe.
That’s what I thought – that she lost her balance and is clutching Charles to avoid doing a sudden faceplant.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂❤️
This is the fate H and M escaped from; imagine spending your life begging for money from the kng.
And that king is tyrant Willy and his wife Catherine.
That long blazer and skirt combo looks so early 90s and not in a good way. Skirt would look much better, and more modern, with a fitted sleeveless top.
This is so gross. I can’t believe that adults with free will can grovel life this to a fellow human who is 100% no better than anyone else. Has she no self-respect? What a sick cult.
This is what total financial and safety(security) and reputational dependency looks like apparently. For themselves and their children. Great life!
(Aside: i find it paradoxical that the only place monarchs weld total authority is over their own family members. Must long for the days when it was a whole country and empire.)
That’s what I came here to say, gross. Thank you for saying it. This is almost nauseating.
These people rarely see each other in private but they try to convince the public that they are a happy cohesive family and that the whole time the Sussexes were there they were unanimously well loved members who did not accept and reciprocate the love they received. 🤷🏽♀️
However they’re essentially work colleagues at best. Backstabbing rivals who use the press to shiv each other as needed is more apt. Hierarchical structures often breed internally contemptuous humans who privately despise being subdued as a consequence of the structure. The Edinburghs/Wessexes are trapped. Sophie understands she has to grovel to survive. That’s probably the first time she has been in direct contact with Charles since Easter when they saw each other in church and who knows, Charles probably walked right past her inside the church as went to his seat.
To quote Kaiser “Queen Camilla is sharpening her knives as we speak!” 😞
Frigging embarrassing. I know Charles generally loves pomp and circumstance but even he doesn’t seem like he was expecting or particularly wanted it, given it looks like they were already half in embrace when she dipped and then completed the kiss when she came back up. Freaky ass family.
Apparently Sophie has learned that to survive in this family you have to do one of two things: 1. Suck up and show loyalty like your life depends on it or 2 Leave with your sanity intact and make your own way in the world and find happiness and joy. Sophie chose option number one and she is playing it as hard as she can. Dignity be damned.
Just to note, they tried the second option, they failed with debts and an embarrassing secret recording of Sophie. So, I think, that is why Sophie is riding this hard.
Sophie and Edward were not able to make a go if it outside the RF and I can believe they weren’t necessarily well-equipped to do so. But I can also imagine that there were some in the firm who sabotaged those efforts. That’s just me taking a guess though.
@jais, it could be, but at the time, the BRF railed around them after the recording got public. QE2 also paid their debts. They didn’t turn into scapegoats with hundred of articles mocking them for years. At the time QE2 and Philips were in charge though. QE2 definitely protected her children and they weren’t in cahoots with the media like they are now.
Oops my bad. I had forgotten their failed attempt at leaving and finding happiness. I too believe they were not as equipped for it and because they were not equipped they were then very easily sabotaged into staying.
It is already embarrassing that she is essentially groveling to her BIL but knowing that this man had a sex tape where he was talking to his equally unattractive mistress begging to be her tampon makes this even more vulgar and gross. There is nothing dignified about this man or this family. At least with the late Queen I could see this as a show of respect and honor. Now it’s just people (poor or rich) groveling to a POS 👑💩 that’s no better than anyone else. I never cared for him previously so realizing that not only was he a POS husband to Diana but even worse of a father, FIL, grandparent and man makes it all even more cartoonish when anyone bows to someone who needs to be scraped off the bottom of a shoe.
I like your thinking!
Is it royal/dignified to expose your heel and sole, like that? Asking for a friend.
Can’t Charles just give Sophie and Edward a nice grace and favor apartment somewhere, and be done with it? Then they wouldn’t have Bagshot’s massive upkeep and might not have to grovel quite so obsequiously.
Louise and James are HRH and have been since birth, because under the letters patent they are grandchildren of the monarch through the male line, just like Archie and Lili are now.
Part of why the royalists are pissed is that Harry and Meghan made sure to confirm that the kids have a right to the HRH.
Edward and Sophie saying they wouldn’t use it for those kids and would let them decide at 18 was just another example of them trying to look humble and stay in the good graces of the Queen but more particularly Charles who was starting to go on about a slimmed down monarchy. At the time there were still a lot of “working” royals and Beatrice and Eugenie were being told they wouldn’t be part of it either.
Edward and Sophie likely thought they wouldn’t have to wait to get the duchy of Edinburgh and it only be a lifetime one too.
I guess this is something confusing to me. Bc Louise and James are HRH? If they dont’ want the title of HRH, what would they even do? Just ask people not to uses HRH when referring to them?
When Louise was born they put out a press release saying that Louis would not be known as Princess Louise and would decide at 18 if she wanted to be a working royal and use it.
Edward and Sophie already agreed to an Earldom and not dukedom on the promise of getting the Edinburgh title once Philip passed. It was around then that the talk of having fewer working royals was being pushed as a thing.
Little did they know how lazy William, direct heir and his wife would be and that they would push out Harry and his family.
Looks to me like she got stuck in a low curtsy and he’s helping her get up (I can relate). Embarrassing.
Hey Sophie, it’s too bad you never learned how to do the “Sexy Slut Drop”. Your thighs would have been highly conditioned by now – just like Meghan’s – if you had, and the need for Charles steadying your clumsy attempt at getting “low” could have been avoided. Consider yourself lucky though, you could have dragged the king to the ground with you and ended up in a heap. Hysterical.
Sophie and Edward and their children cannot serve the monarch by being smart or charismatic or interesting or cool or glamorous, and so…we get this. Just poor Sophie bending the knee to Charles in 2025. It’s the only thing they have to offer anybody. I don’t particularly like Sophie and Ed, but I do hope that they have lives outside of this RF madness.
Sophie and Edward have made their bed with Charles and they know they have to bend the knee (deeeply) in order to survive and give their children a chance to continue on inside the rotten core of the BF. I wish them all they deserve.
They are as attractive and charismatic as wet cardboard.