One of the photo agencies actually decided to provide the palace-handout photos of Prince Edward and Sophie this week in Malta. Enjoy! The Duchess of Edinburgh’s travels and tours are barely covered by the British or American media these days, but honestly, it seems like Edward is getting even less attention than his wife. These are supposedly the linchpins of the modern monarchy, the “younger” working royals who will bridge the gap between King Charles and the Waleses. And they can’t even buy coverage.
Their tour of Malta is possibly the start of something new though – the Mail and Hello have done a handful of stories about Sophie and Ed, mostly about how Sophie keeps wearing baggy florals and Laura Ingalls Wilder dresses. There’s also been a lot of focus of how Sophie and Ed are “following in Queen Elizabeth’s footsteps.” QEII spent some time in Malta when she and Prince Philip were newlyweds. Yesterday, Sophie and Ed visited QEII and Philip’s old home in Malta, and they’ve tried to recreate some photos too. It’s all a tad creepy, honestly, and Sophie should probably shut it down.
In case you’re wondering why the f–k Sophie and Edward are even in Malta right now, just know it’s not because they wanted to organize all of these weird cosplay photoshoots. They’re marking the 60th anniversary of Malta’s independence from Britain. There was also this screwup, which would have been a nothingburger but instead it’s probably the defining moment of the tour.
🚨 MUST-WATCH: Sophie completely snubbing the Prime Minister of Malta! 😳 If THIS is the best diplomat the UK has to offer, they’re in serious trouble … not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, is she? 🤦♂️ #DiplomaticDisaster pic.twitter.com/MgZtby2uij
— Meghan and Harry | Sussex Royal News (@MeghansDevotee) October 8, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh arrive to view artefacts linked to UK-Malta relations, including the letter from Queen Elizabeth II inaugurating the first parliament, during a visit to the National Library, in Republic Square, Valletta,on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh signing the visitor’s book during a visit to the National Library, in Republic Square, Valletta, on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Edinburgh takes part in a panel discussion with the Malta Police Force about how to improve its approach to supporting victims of crime, particularly victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking at their headquarters, in Floriana, on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Edinburgh laying flowers at the Daphne Memorial, Valletta, on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Edinburgh laying flowers at the Daphne Memorial, Valletta, on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Edinburgh after laying flowers at the Daphne Memorial, Valletta, to lay flowers, on the third day of a royal tour of Malta to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and celebrate the country’s shared heritage and continuing collaboration with the UK Featuring: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Where: Valletta, Malta When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Sophie’s looking a bit rough!
I appreciate that she doesn’t show up “well rested” or “refreshed” as the tabloids always say when someone shows up with a new face or duck lips, but yes — the sun damage and pressure of being the great dynamic duo (LOL) and seemingly only “working” royal actually doing any “work” is certainly showing.
But Sophie is the Savior of the Monarchy! Imagine the pressure she’s under, the constant need to pose for photos no one will ever see, the constant kissing up to WandK to ensure her future lifestyle! Poor sausage 🙂
That’s probably because she and Edward are the only two “royals” working. I’m pretty sure Anne has told Charles and William to “F off.”
At least someone must have taken her aside at one point in the recent past and whispered something about “proper underpinnings make better photo ops”.
Some photos I have seen of her were just tragic! 🙁
Nobody needs to aspire to being totally spanxy-fied, but bulges and droops front and back can be avoided quite easily.
Can we please quit with the prairie dresses??? This style never looked good and will never look good, please for the love of god, Quit!!!
It looks like she has a sewing machine at home that she uses to run up her boring outfits.
The thumbnail choices you’ve been making are fabulous. I am really enjoying them.
My guess is that cheap Charles is not providing her with a wardrobe for these tours, so she makes do with what she owns. Edward can get away with a suit, which he no doubt owns dozens of, but she is stuck with what is currently in her closet.
Charles needs to break out some cash for her to buy clothes, assuming he wants her to continue to make tours in his place.
Another one who copies Meghan’s shoe aesthetics….I wonder what the women in that family used to wear before Meghan arrived on the scene!
Those wedges look eerily similar to what Meghan wore while visiting Australia
Omg, give it a rest. I love her but Meghan didn’t invent everything ever.
Wedges have, unfortunately, been popular with the royal women such as Kate and Sophie for years, well before Meghan came on the scene.
ETA and while I think the response is harsh I do sort of agree with @huckle above….I think there is a tendency to assume that everything is a Meghan copy when not everything is. If you’re newer to royal following it may seem that way but no, Sophie is not wearing wedges because Meghan wore them in Australia.
I agree with @huckle and Becks 1 – Sophie tends to favour Prada 85cm pumps / heels and has only just started wearing Jimmy Choo pumps .
How do I know ? because I love my Prada pumps and I have spotted her wear several pairs
As for the Wedges, it is more of a British / European stable style that Brits tend to wear in warmer climates. Kate was big on wearing Wedges even before she got married .
So no, she is not copying Meghan who tends to favour Acquazurra shoes. ( said to own 26 pairs of them)
@vs You can go back years and see that Kate wore wedges before Meghan was on the Royal scene. I had wedges like these back in the early 00’s, they were everywhere on the British high street and they reappear every summer. And if you want to go back further you can credit the Catalonians/Pyrrenean/Basque peoples (theyre even made up here in SW France) for espadrilles which these are based on and some others probably dreamt up something similar centuries beforehand. So as much as I love Meghan it’s a hard sell to credit her with the popularity of these sandals.
Sophie needs a stylist.
I’ve met both of them, Edward at least 6 times and Sophie twice at the charity I volunteer for. It’s a cultural/literary charity. They are intellectually incurious, basically unintelligent, but full of themselves. Every year, Edward asked the same stupid questions that make me blush.
I’m a Special Ed teacher. Believe me, under other circumstances, those 2 would have been referred to Special Education for support.
Some used to mention the “Malta lie” to infer the Queen only briefly visited Malta between 1949-51. But she did in fact reside there for weeks and months at a time. Including one Christmas. When Philip was at sea she would return to England and carry out duties and to give birth to Anne. It can be seen in old news coverage.
Villa Guardamangia was their rented home there, the Queens only home outside the UK. The Maltese government purchased the villa a few years ago and are restoring it as a tourist site. The renovation is almost complete and partly why the Edinburghs are visiting it in the above photos.
I think the “Malta lie” is because that time got twisted to explain away Kate’s laziness. “the Queen wanted William and Kate to have two or three years together without working and in privacy the same way she had those years in Malta.”
but even as you explained – Elizabeth wasn’t in Malta for two or three solid years, she returned to England for duties and the like, and Phillip was a naval officer at the time (I’m assuming working more than William did in Anglesea.)
So no, I don’t really believe that QEII gave her blessing for William and Kate to start off their marriage with several years of basically zero work.
I remember a stunning feature of Meghan visiting Malta for Elle magazine shortly before she met Harry, I believe. She was exploring the culture and food of Malta. Also, I think she had a putative ancestor who lived in Malta for a while. I don’t think there is any Maltese ancestry there, though. Anyway, the photos were gorgeous.
I don’t like calling this a “snub” or “blanking him.” Those are both intentional acts. If there was any blanking, it was her blanking out of time. Once she realized what was going on she seemed very comfortable to shake his hand. I think she was just out of it.
Now what Cam did to the French first lady was a snub. What K did in Jamaica was a snub. Sophie might have even snubbed Meg at one of those church services. I just don’t think that’s what’s going on here.
I don’t think it’s a snub either. The video is slowed down, so it’s just catching her posing for the initial photo op before realizing that someone was coming at her for a handshake.
It sure seems like kowtowing to an unattractive “queen.”
Like I’ve said before, Sophie dresses like she’s a much older woman shopping off the Marks & Spencer racks.
I don’t think it does Meghanand Harry any favors for this poster to call out Sophie. It has nothing to do with M & H and just brings negative attention to them. Opinion only.
Yeah, this isn’t a snub so much as her being oblivious in the moment. Once she was made aware that he was waiting to shake her hand, she reacted.
Her clothes are tragic. She needs a good seamstress.
She needs to be given a budget for such things by Charles!
My guess is that Charles and William do not want her to look too good, so they are not paying for appropriate clothing for her trips, let alone a stylist or a good seamstress!
I appreciate Sophie’s sartorial style, but her tops need tailoring to her the fit of her skirts. Someone just needs to copy Ralph Lauren prairie style any year, and they would have it.
Florals well styled are cute.
She’s better copying Meghan because her baggy clothes are a Sister Wives esthetic that no one likes