Category: Duchess of Edinburgh

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Duchess of Edinburgh Princess Diana

Duchess Sophie didn’t go to Princess Diana’s funeral because they looked alike…??

duchess-sophie-didn’t-go-to-princess-diana’s-funeral-because-they-looked-alike…??

After Princess Diana’s death in 1997, I believe many people just stopped caring about the British monarchy. They either stopped caring about the Windsors permanently, or they just needed a break from the Windsor psychodrama for several years, then their interest was renewed when Diana’s sons became young men. My point is that there was definitely a “Windsor Lost Years” period where few people were paying attention and there was something of a vacuum. Well, Sophie Rhys Jones tried to step into that vacuum. Sophie, who is now the Duchess of Edinburgh, began dating Prince Edward in 1993, and they married in June 1999. The wedding was one of the first big royal events since Diana’s death. Sophie and Edward were an established couple (but not yet engaged) when Diana died, and people have always said that Sophie sort of believed that she could step into Diana’s shoes. As in, Sophie thought she could become a major star and royal celebrity, that she would be the glamorous blonde who replaced Diana as Queen of Hearts. Delusional? Yes. But just how delusional? Well, a new biography is trying to answer that question.

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh has been a central member of the royal family for years, but she didn’t attend Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 — and a new book claims to unveil the real reason why. In Sophie: Saving the Royal Family by Sean Smith, the author wrote that Sophie did not go to Princess Diana’s funeral on Sept. 6, 1997, because of the striking resemblance that she and Diana shared.

“She had an obvious and reasonable excuse: a friend at the palace explained, ‘Sophie decided it would be too upsetting for the crowd if she went,’ ” Smith wrote in the biography published on July 17, the Daily Mail reported. ” ‘She’s well aware that she looks like Princess Diana from a distance and made her decision in a caring and thoughtful way. The royal family fully supported.’”

Both the late Princess of Wales and Sophie wore their blonde hair in cropped haircuts, which Sophie, now 60, later grew out into a longer style that she continues to sport today. Diana and Sophie shared similar features with blue eyes and light hair, and the Duchess of Edinburgh reportedly once commented on the likeness.

“I don’t deny that we do look alike. But I couldn’t ever compete with Diana’s image. I’m not Diana,” Sophie told the Daily Mail in the 1990s, according to the Daily Express.

At the time of Diana’s death, the future Duchess of Edinburgh was a public relations professional known by her maiden name, Sophie Rhys-Jones, and was dating Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son, Prince Edward.

[From People]

I laughed reading this – “Sophie decided it would be too upsetting for the crowd if she went…She’s well aware that she looks like Princess Diana from a distance and made her decision in a caring and thoughtful way.” “From a distance” is doing such heavy lifting, LMAO. “The royal family fully supported.” I’m sure they did – they fully supported Sophie, a royal girlfriend, not attending Diana’s funeral because Sophie was clearly bonkers!! I went back and grabbed some photos of Sophie in the ‘90s – the only “resemblance” to Diana is Sophie cutting and dyeing her hair just like Diana. Sophie even wore similar styles and mimicked Diana’s poses! Sophie must have been so disappointed to learn that the public’s interest in Diana didn’t transfer over to the closest blonde. Is this why Camilla can’t stand Sophie? Because Sophie tried to be the new Diana?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Duchess of Edinburgh Duchess of Gloucester Fashion Kate Middleton Princess Anne Queen Camilla royals

Were all of the Windsor women supposed to wear white at the French state banquet?

were-all-of-the-windsor-women-supposed-to-wear-white-at-the-french-state-banquet?

It’s been a minute since the Windsors have hosted a really glamorous state visit. It’s also been more than a year and a half since anyone allowed the Princess of Wales to wear a tiara and an evening gown. At the last minute on Tuesday, Kate and Prince William were confirmed to attend the state banquet for President and Madame Macron. It was staged at Windsor Castle, and the dinner seemed to off without a hitch. Soft diplomacy, tiaras, and a menu of summer salad, chicken, and “iced blackcurrant parfait on a blackcurrant-soaked sponge with elderflower jelly.”

As I went through the photos, I noticed something odd, as did many other people – it looks like all of the royal women were in white/ivory. Queen Camilla, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and the Duchess of Gloucester all wore white or ivory and glittering jewels and sashes. The Princess of Wales was the only royal woman in red. Do you think Camilla approved of that? The only reason I ask is because these people have made it abundantly clear that they coordinate their colors with each other, often send a message. Did Kate not get the message? Or did she not care? I also wonder how last-minute this preparation was for Kate – her Givenchy dress was new-to-us, but was it actually new-new? It would make sense if Kate threw on something she had in her closet but had never worn if she only got the invitation at the last minute. Still… Kate also has a lot of white gowns in her closet. It’s interesting.

Also interesting… while Kate was placed on Pres. Macron’s right side, the camera angles ensured that Kate was largely hidden behind an enormous centerpiece. That’s something else they would have bragged about if it had been Meghan being blocked – they crowed for months about how a candle blocked shots of Meghan at QEII’s funeral in 2022. So if that was a message, surely this is too?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Duchess of Edinburgh royals

Duchess Sophie is ‘keen’ to take on more work, but she’ll need ‘more staff’

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In Prince William’s recent birthday “profile,” which was organized by Kensington Palace, sources once again spoke about how William will count on the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh when he’s king. In William’s kingship fantasies, he knows that he and his wife still won’t work much, so he’s already expecting Sophie and Edward to pick up the slack. William seems fond of Sophie, but she’s probably yet another older woman who knows how to work his ego (much like Carole Middleton). Sophie comes across as a bit of leech, running the same play on William that she ran on QEII, telling everyone that she (Sophie) is the favorite, the chosen one, the secret weapon who can step up and do the heavy lifting! Well, here’s the latest from Sophie’s PR shop:

She has long been thought of as the royals’ secret weapon and being a savvy peacemaker. But now Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh — who was once described by Princess Diana as “Little Miss Goody Two Shoes” — is braced to play an important role in the family’s future. And the duchess herself is believed to be delighted with the idea of more frontline roles and responsibilities.

Since the banishment of Harry and Meghan, and Prince Andrew’s fall from grace, the team of working royals has been down to the bare bones. After the death of Queen Elizabeth and the cancer woes of King Charles and the Princess of Wales, the shortage of major royals for public duties was even more stark. Step forward Sophie, 60, who will now play a distinguished public role in the Royal Family.

Both William and Kate are very fond of her and Edward, 61, who have proven to be steady hands in an otherwise turbulent family. Sources say Sophie — mother of Lady Louise, 21, who is due to graduate this summer, and 17-year-old James, the Earl of Wessex — is keen to relieve the work pressure on Charles, Camilla, William and Kate.

A source who knows her well says: “Sophie is very keen to take on more work for the Royal Family. Until now she has been a bit like Princess Anne — someone who has done a hell of a lot of travelling to engagements all over the world without any real fanfare. The places she has gone to are often not very fashionable, to say the least, but she happily goes and gives each engagement her all because she knows she is representing the King. The duchess is very good at doing her own research for those engagements and writing her own speeches, as does the duke. I suspect that as she takes on more work for the family, Sophie will have to have more staff. Because at the moment the duke and duchess only have one live-in member of staff at their home in Bagshot [Surrey], who doubles up as a personal secretary.”

[From The Sun]

A few points. One, notice how Sophie has basically written off the current king as a lost cause when it comes to her quest to be a bigger, more important senior royal. Charles and Camilla don’t actively hate Sophie and Edward, and the Edinburghs are not shunned anywhere. But Cam and Charles aren’t highlighting their work or singling out Sophie for praise or anything. Sophie is seen as what she is – a boring worker bee for the Firm, someone who doesn’t ruffle feathers (because no one pays attention to what she’s up to). That’s not magically going to change when William is king either – sure, she’ll have more to do, but the British press will still ignore her for the most part. The thing about funding is super-interesting too, and that’s probably the point of this story. Sophie is setting terms! She’s telling William: I’ll do whatever you want during your reign, but you better give me a real office and some staff! I also don’t believe that Sophie and Edward are THAT lacking in staff, btw.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Duchess of Edinburgh Fashion King Charles III Princess Anne princess beatrice Queen Camilla royals Zara Phillips

Who was the best-dressed royal woman at Ascot’s Ladies Day?

who-was-the-best-dressed-royal-woman-at-ascot’s-ladies-day?

Here are some photos from Royal Ascot Day 3, Ladies Day (Thursday). Wimbledon used to do a “Ladies Day” as well, but they’ve stopped calling it that out of sexism concerns. Personally, I don’t find a “Ladies Day” at any event to be particularly sexist – it’s not like those are the only days where women are welcome, it’s just a day set aside in particular to celebrate women. All of which to say, the royal women made a point of coming out for Ladies Day. The royals in attendance on Thursday: King Charles, Queen Camilla, Zara & Mike Tindall, Prince Edward & the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Beatrice & Edo, Peter Phillips and Princess Anne.

I’m including an assortment of photos from Ladies Day. Surprisingly, the women made an effort to NOT look like the wrath of god. I even thought a few of the royal women looked really good. Zara Tindall was – gulp – my pick for best dressed of the day in her black-and-white Laura Green dress. Super-flattering, vintage-style yet classic. I also thought Beatrice looked rather stunning in her canary-yellow Monique Lhullier with a bold pattern. It’s always touch-and-go for redheads when it comes to pulling off yellow, but this is the right shade for Bea. Peter’s girlfriend Harriet Sperling also wore yellow, a more buttery shade. Harriet is getting a lot of attention for her style, which… okay, sure.

Duchess Sophie wore Suzannah London. I actually really like this print, although I think Sophie has issues with selected prints. Queen Camilla wore a blue/grey housedress with the Jardine Star brooch, one of QEII’s favorites. Cam looked like she was picking a wedge in some of these photos. As for Anne… bless her heart. She wore royal blue, with what looked like a dyed-to-match mosquito net on her head.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

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Duchess of Edinburgh Meghan Sussex royals

DM: Duchess Meghan is an influencer while Duchess Sophie ‘has influence’

dm:-duchess-meghan-is-an-influencer-while-duchess-sophie-‘has-influence’

This week, they’ve decided to use the Duchess of Edinburgh as a cudgel with which to bash the Duchess of Sussex. The comparison between the two women is supposed to be unfavorable to Meghan! They’re saying that “Meghan is an influencer while Sophie has real influence.” Nevermind that Sophie is a prideless bootlicker and so boring that absolutely none of the British media send photographers to cover her international travels. Nevermind that whenever Meghan breathes, travels, posts on social media or says anything about anything, she garners a zillion headlines. If attention is currency, Meghan is a billionaire and Sophie is in deep debt. But please enjoy these asinine quotes:

Meghan Markle is a self-proclaimed feminist and vowed to continue her work for women’s advocacy even when she stepped down from official royal duties with Prince Harry. But since the launch of her Netflix series and lifestyle brand, As Ever, it’s another royal who was become synonymous with working tirelessly in the women’s rights realm, while Meghan’s public persona is all jam and flower sprinkles.

Just last week, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, was at the Imperial War Museum to visit the UK’s first exhibition on the victims of sexual violence in conflict and gave an impassioned speech, where she spoke movingly about a visit she made to Kosovo in 2019 and the ‘shame and stigma’ of the rape survivors she met.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that this is exactly the kind of hard-hitting advocacy work that could have allowed Meghan to flourish in the Royal Family given it’s so far removed from the ‘softer’ duties, involving cutting ribbons and shaking hands.

‘Meghan is struggling to be an influencer, Sophie has influence in ways that really matter, which Meghan could have been,’ he said. ‘Meghan has always boasted about how she promotes feminism. Yet contrast the occasional speech she makes in comfortable surroundings with the remarkable work of Sophie who actually visits areas of the world such as Sudan and Chad which have been devastated by war and attempts to comfort the women who are victims of rape and exploitation.

‘If Meghan had seriously wanted to make a difference, she should surely have remained a senior working royal. It does involve compromise, but think what could have been achieved for an important cause she claims is so dear to her heart.’

He added that Meghan’s departure from frontline royal duties is a case of ‘wasted potential’, while Sophie has ‘proved she’s the Royal Family’s champion of women’s rights…While Meghan sends pots of jam to celebrities, it is the Duchess of Edinburgh who meets survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and displaced women in a landmark visit to Ukraine.’

Richard explained: ‘In [Meghan’s] visits to Rwanda in 2016 and India in 2017 and in a memorable speech to the United Nations International Women’s Day Conference in 2015, she campaigned for equal opportunities. She stressed this in her visits to the Antipodes and South Africa when she and Harry were still senior working members of the royal family. This potential has surely been wasted since she and Harry stepped down from royal duties.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I kind of enjoy when these people come close to admitting the thing they’re never supposed to say out loud: that Meghan was and is an amazing ambassador for the issues she cares about, like women’s rights, and that Meghan would have been doing amazing work for the Windsors if only they hadn’t treated her like sh-t and briefed lies about her constantly. Currently, Meghan is exactly where she is supposed to be, doing exactly what she wants. She doesn’t need the Firm to make news or work on the issues she cares about, and that’s why they’re pissed.

What’s also remarkable is that Dick Fitzwilliams can’t work up any energy to compare and contrast Sophie’s work with the other royal woman, you know, the Princess of Wales. Everyone of these ghastly royal commentators insisted that Kate is so perfect and she will work so hard for the Firm, and yet… where’s Kate’s advocacy? Why isn’t Kate expected to speak up for women’s rights? Why isn’t work-shy Kate being unfavorably compared to Sophie? How about this? “While Kate commissions patronizing videos about the seasons, it is the Duchess of Edinburgh who meets survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and displaced women in a landmark visit to Ukraine.” How about this? “Kate is struggling to do anything at all, and Sophie has influence in ways that really matter, which Kate could have been.”

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Duchess of Edinburgh King Charles III royals

Duchess Sophie clutched King Charles as she did a very deep curtsy

duchess-sophie-clutched-king-charles-as-she-did-a-very-deep-curtsy

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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Duchess of Edinburgh Prince William royals

Prince William & Duchess Sophie sampled local gin at the Royal Cornwall Show

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Prince William is part of a “new royal power duo,” you guys. That’s what the Daily Express called his outing with his aunt today at the Royal Cornwall Show. The Royal Cornwall Show is probably the American equivalent of a 4-H fair – there are livestock shows, baking competitions, agricultural showcases, etc. Good ol’ family fun! Except Mother Nature herself, the Princess of Wales, couldn’t be bothered to turn up with her husband. Which is why the Duchess of Edinburgh stepped in to accompany William today. New royal power duo!

Technically, William and Sophie both have positions related to the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, the association which organizes the show. William is patron of RCAA, while Sophie is RCAA’s vice-president. Still, I find it strange that Kate just… didn’t bother. Didn’t care enough about farms or nature or being outside when it came to an agricultural show. Honestly though, it’s good that Kate didn’t bother. William actually enjoys himself when he’s with Sophie.

I’m including photos of William and Sophie sampling locally-made gins and spirits – any event where William gets to booze it up is a good one for William. The face he made after a shot of gin was especially funny. It’s like someone gave him local moonshine or something.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.