Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, will turn 60 years old on January 20th. You would think that all of the big birthday-keenery articles would have been saved for next weekend, closer to Sophie’s birthday. You would be wrong, especially since the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix show was originally scheduled to come out on Wednesday (it has since been delayed). The timing here is important because the Sunday Times’ birthday article on Sophie reads like one gigantic subtweet of the Sussexes. It’s less than remarkable at this point, how the Windsors rush to coordinate everything for an audience of one (Harry) and every story is somehow about the Sussexes. Some highlights from the Sunday Times:
Sophie’s birthday will be different than Meghan’s Netflix show! As the Duchess of Sussex returns to Netflix this week, cooking and entertaining in a new series, With Love, Meghan, another duchess is planning a low-key approach to a milestone in the less glossy surrounds of Surrey. The Duchess of Edinburgh will be 60 on January 20, a birthday she will spend “privately” at Bagshot Park, the home she shares with Prince Edward, her husband of more than 25 years, and their three dogs: a cocker spaniel called Mole, and two black labradors, Teal and Teasel. Their children, Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and James, Earl of Wessex, 17, will send birthday wishes — she from St Andrews University, where she is in her third year studying English, and he from boarding school in Oxfordshire, where he is studying for A-levels next summer.
Sophie is so unflashy: Beyond the customary acknowledgements on the royal social media channels, the advent of Sophie’s seventh decade will be marked with little fanfare, which is just how she likes it. Sophie has long been considered one of the monarchy’s “safest pair of hands”. Doted on by the late Queen for her loyalty and unflashy approach to royal life, the fourth-hardest-working member of the family — after, in order, Princess Anne, the King and Edward — she clocked up 257 official engagements at home and abroad last year.
Family feuds: She has come to embody the “keep calm and carry on” mantra that the monarchy desperately needs after being shaken by family feuds, Charles and the Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnoses and the continuing scandal around the Duke of York. William and Kate are big fans of Sophie and Edward, and vice versa. “They get on very well,” said a Palace source. Palace insiders believe that under the next reign, William V will be eager for his aunt and uncle to play a more prominent role in public life. Their commitment is essential. Their children are unlikely to sign up to royal duties and the number of working royals will inevitably diminish as older members of the family — such as the Duke of Kent, 89, the Duke of Gloucester, 80, and the Duchess of Gloucester, 78 — hang up their boots.
Sophie is so humble! Ingrid Seward, the editor of Majesty magazine and Edward’s biographer, said: “With Sophie, it’s not all about her. She was one of the first ‘outsiders’ who came into the royal family and realised it’s about all of ‘them’ working together as a team. She really gets that and doesn’t want praise heaped on her.”
Sophie asks questions! A former Palace aide who knows Sophie well said: “She’s tough, she knows her own mind and will argue her corner. There was always a danger people underestimated her but she stood up for herself, for Edward, for them as a couple.” Recalling their diary meetings when engagements for the year ahead were planned, the aide said: “Edward would say OK to most things, but she would ask, ‘What are we doing that for? What’s the value in it?’ She wanted to know what they were doing was actually useful.”
QEII thought Sophie was boring: Seward says: “Sophie wasn’t from that world. She’d never encountered anything like the royal family and was very nervous, shy and tongue-tied when she first met the Queen, who as a result thought she was a bit dull and told a friend: ‘You wouldn’t notice her in a crowd.’ But the more she saw of her, the more she liked her, especially as she made a big effort with Prince Philip, learning to ride, taking up carriage driving. The Queen always liked people who could deal with her husband. Sophie might be low-key but she’s a lot smarter than people give her credit for.”
Sophie & Edward were overshadowed: A source who has known the royal family for years said: “Sophie and Edward were overshadowed because bigger stars in the family came along, and I think at times she did mind that. But she was always pragmatic about their place in the hierarchy, unlike some others in the family. The King and Queen are much more understanding and aware of the role they have been playing, and as they’ve come more into the spotlight, the rest of the family have appreciated that more. The [late] Queen always knew it. Sophie is a proper asset.”
There’s something so hilariously performative about the way Sophie and the rest of the Windsors organize these kinds of stories about how they’re all so humble and hard-working. “But she was always pragmatic about their place in the hierarchy, unlike some others in the family.” Who are “some others,” huh? One of the headlines, for me, is that Sophie feels like she’s done enough to suck up to Prince William and Kate, so much so that her future within the Firm is secure (because no one else will be left for William’s reign). Sophie is one of the last ones standing and she makes it sound like she’s winning some huge prize.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
