The Duchess of Edinburgh recently celebrated her 60th birthday. She agreed to a soft-focus interview with the Telegraph, and she and her husband hosted a birthday party at Bagshot Park, their estate near Windsor Castle. Interestingly, in the Telegraph piece, this aside was included about Sophie’s relationship with the heir and his wife: “She is ‘universally liked’ at the palace, says a source, and will inevitably play a more prominent public-facing role in the reign of William, as younger – and at 60 she IS younger in royal terms – members of the family need to take on more of the load.” As in, people used Sophie’s birthday to talk about how popular she is with Prince William and Kate. Partly because they can’t say the same thing about Sophie’s relationships with King Charles and Queen Camilla, perhaps? In any case, there’s a report that Kate and William actually went over to Bagshot for Sophie’s birthday party?
The Duchess of Edinburgh is said to have held her 60th birthday party at her and Prince Edward’s home, Bagshot Park – with some of her royal relatives in attendance.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were reportedly among the guests, with all the family invited to the private supper and celebrations to mark Sophie’s special day.
Sophie, who officially joined the Royal Family in 1999, celebrated her 60th birthday on January 20.
Her 120-room mansion is said to have been filled with many people close to her – including some of her past colleagues at Capital Radio. Joining a host of famous and royal guests, musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber – who is a long-term friend of the couple – is said to have been in attendance.
We rarely hear about anything like this from Will and Kate – they seemingly never go to their relatives’ birthday parties or private gatherings. It would shock me if W&K actually went, but if they did, I guess it’s true that William really wants Sophie and Edward to pick up his slack when he’s king.
Also: apparently, Sophie has a new set of Chopard jewelry, and “it is believed” that Prince Edward spent £15,000 on the necklace and earring-suite for Christmas or for her birthday. Sophie wore the suite last week – I kind of like how small the pieces are, the better for dailywear rather than special occasions only.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.
