Official Title: Her Royal Highness, The Countess of Wessex - One of my favorite facts about Sophie and Edward is that when they got married, instead of taking a Dukedom, which is the highest title and traditional for the sons/grandsons in the direct line of the queen and their spouses, they were made the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The rumor is that Prince Edward love the character Lord Wessex from  Shakespeare in Love (played by Colin Firth!), so the Queen humored him by granting him the title of Earl of Wessex. The reason that he couldn’t be  the Duke of Wessex is that the Queen has to pull from modern regions of Britain for those titles, and Wessex hasn’t existed as a region for years. It’s also been said that Edward will inherit the Duke of Edinburgh title from his father when he passes away. 

Place in Order of Precedence: Her husband, Prince Edward is 11th in line. 

Romantic History: Married to Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and the youngest child of The Queen

Children: Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn

Key Causes/Patronages:

• Supporting people with disabilities.

• The prevention of blindness in developing countries which includes being Patron of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight and Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness since 2003. She has traveled internationally extensively for this role. 

• She was named the President of Girl Guiding UK (a tougher Girl Scouts) in 2003.

• On International Women’s Day 2019, The Countess publicly announced her involvement with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI).

• The Countess of Wessex is the Patron of over 70 charities and organizations, and holds several military appointments. 

Why You Want to Have Tea with Her:

• Sophie is one of the most relateable and also low-key members of the royal family (and one of The Queen’s clear favorites!). She is always pulled together, but not as perfectly coiffed as Kate and Meghan have been during tours and engagements. I have always liked her as she worked in PR for years and tried to keep her own firm running after she married Edward, but that proved to be too challenging in terms of avoiding conflicts of interest. Sophie and her daughter both almost died during the childbirth, and her daughter suffered from Strabismus as a result, fueling Sophie’s work with sight issues in children. Sophie and Edward are the youngest in their generation, and the only working royals with teenagers, which has allowed them to be a bridge between Charles, Anne and Andrew, and William and Kate and the younger generation who are just getting married and starting families. They have taken on a more visible role in the last several years since Prince Philip has retired, their children are teenagers and the younger generation are spending more time at home with their children. I personally love that the royals do make a concerted effort to support parents being home with their children during early years. Sophie makes frequent international trips, although she doesn’t get the press coverage that the Cambridges get, or even the Sussexes when they were still working royals. Press coverage of Sophie has increased the last few months as the press LOVES a royal vs. royal story and they are framing it as her stepping up with the Sussexes stepping down - but the only thing that has changed is the media attention on her. I hope that we keep hearing more about her great work!