In the wake of Sussexit, there were a multitude of stories about which royals would “step up” and “replace” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It seemed that even though those royal commentators were smearing Meghan and Harry as the two biggest disasters ever for the Windsors, there was also an acknowledgement that their star power was profoundly needed for the survival of such an antiquated institution. Basically, Harry and Meghan made the monarchy look sexy and modern, and the fact that they were bullied out of the country makes the monarchy look like what it is: boring, fussy, colonialist, racist, sexist and outdated.
Still, the “who will step up” conversation was sort of hilarious. I mean, shouldn’t the Future Queen and Future King step up? Are William and Kate still not enough? Do buttons not count as work?? So it was funny that as soon as Will & Kate got what they wanted – all of the attention on them, with the Sussexes exiled – the commentators were instantly like “well sh-t, who ELSE is there?” So all eyes turned to Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. Reportedly, she’s been ready since January to “step up” in the wake of Sussexit. Now Sophie is being embiggened by the same people who have been trying to embiggen William and Kate for years:
Sophie Wessex is ‘exactly what the royal family needs’ because she ‘just gets on with it’ and doesn’t take on projects that are ‘very glamorous’, according to a royal expert. Ingrid Seward has revealed how the Countess, 55, approaches her role in The Firm in an ‘unfussy way’ and said she ‘gets on with things regardless of the attention.’
The Countess, who is currently isolating at her home in Bagshot Park, Surrey, with husband Prince Edward, 56, and their children Lady Louise Windsor, 16, and James, Viscount Severn, 12, has been seen volunteering at foodbanks and making lunches for NHS staff in recent weeks.
Seward told CBC News: ‘Sophie does everything very quietly, partly because the media don’t follow her obsessively as they do with William and Catherine and partly because the things she does aren’t necessarily very glamorous.’
Seward went on to say it was exactly what the Royal Family needs and likened her to Princess Anne, who is often considered the hardest-working royal. The royal expert said Sophie would likely follow in her footsteps, thanks to her ‘unfussy’ attitude. She went on to explain how Sophie was ‘someone who just gets on with things regardless of the attention they receive’, which was exactly what was needed in The Firm.
Meanwhile fellow expert Katie Nicholl went on to reveal how Sophie ‘goes about her duty diligently and quietly’, explaining that it was part of the reason the Countess is so close to the Queen. Katie said that their companionship came ‘gradually’ and without pushiness on Sophie’s part, with the two women both enjoying riding, military history and ‘a wicked sense of humour.’
Over the past few years, I’ve come to understand the dysfunctional nature of the Windsors even better, and how the dysfunction starts with the Queen and “trickles down” to the rest of the family. Queen Elizabeth is a petty B who loathes when anyone “outshines” her in any way. She WANTS the women in her family to behave like Anne – to be boring and hard-working and never outshine the Queen. But that’s not what’s best for the survival of the monarchy, and the Queen’s dysfunction has done such irreparable harm to the Crown. The Crown NEEDS youth, vitality, interest, modernity, and yes, drama. They need to be able to relate to all people, not just staid, ancient, gatekeeping old royalists.
I’m not saying this as shade for Sophie in particular – I think she’s been doing some good work overall, and she was the first royal to really don gloves and a mask and volunteer at local charities during the pandemic. But Sophie’s work never gets much attention, and neither does Anne’s. And that’s not good for the monarchy.
“Your determination, teamwork and skill has resulted in a hospital that will help to provide care to anyone in need.”
The Countess of Wessex has sent a video message to officially open the new NHS Nightingale Hospital North East in Sunderland. pic.twitter.com/GwBMcxxZCW
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 5, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.
After 20 years and The Sophie tapes, she’s now what the family needs? Okayyyyyyy
Exactly, lol. Her own husband’s sexuality will be forever in question thanks to her antics. Meghan was what the RF needed and they were too stupid to see it. Ingrid Seward is full of it, just like the other reporters.
Antics? What antics! Do tell 🤪
Yes, I’m curious what she did that called in question Edward’s sexuality.
Yes, please, spill the old royaltea
After twenty years, she has earned The Queen’s trust after a rocky start. Sound familiar? They will never be as popular as The Sussexs and that’s okay. They can be respected and do their best. That’s all anyone can do.
If they are white, you mean
@Wasabi, I don’t mean that at all. I adored the Sussex from the beginning. I don’t know where that came from in regards to me.
@DarlingDiana- I don’t think that was directed at you but a comment on how the BRF and the press will accept Sophie because she’s white.
I’m sorry, yes, it wasn’t directed at you. It was meant to point out the difference in treatment of Meghan as a WOC. Because Sophie is doing here what M+H do in US – food delivery type of volunteering. Yet Sophie is just what BRF needs while Meghan is a horrible person who singlehandedly destroys the monarchy one avocado toast at a time.
Basically some tabloid journalists pretended to be Sheikhs and recorded Sophie and her business partner on several occasions. Sophie gave some pretty tame and predictable political opinions, she said nice things about Charles and Camilla (although she did say Charles enjoyed being formal – oh no!), and she did business. In business she veered into inappropriate for royals territory with her PR business and her involvement as a princess (which I suspect a lot of them do on the sly).
The really bad stuff was said by her business partner when she wasn’t there – he was an unsavoury character. He suggested that he suspected Edward was gay (“where there’s smoke, there’s fire” type stuff), he talked about buying sex in Asia, he offered to procure young men (but not boys) with good jobs for the sheikhs, he suggested more ways they could capitalise on Sophie’s status as a princess without officially overstepping the line (usage of photos for example), and he mentioned his own drug use – but said Sophie barely drinks and would probably die if she used drugs.
Honestly, I thought it was overblown. Yeah, she talked politics (a no no) and she shouldn’t have been utilising her royal status at all in her business. The rest (on her side) was nothing much. The issue was that her business partner was a dodgy dude with a big mouth who said a lot of terrible things. Bad judgment to go into business with him – sure; but he is to blame for the things he said, not her. She may not have been aware of the types of things he said behind her back. Indeed, after this I believe she left the business.
You can read about The Sophie Tapes here: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/apr/08/uk.news
Great summary! Thank you,
I respect the work Sophie does- it’s shameful her volunteering is apparently not going to count for her numbers.
All this overshadowing talk but why has it been ok for years for Cambridges to overshadow the monarch& immediate heirs? In that big call they did with nurses, Kate’s picture published in papers was bigger than everyone including the Queen. Why no tantrums over this eg?
She may be what they WANT, but she’s not what they NEED.
Exactly Elizabeth! This reminds me of a Coldplay song……”you get what you want, but not what you need. Stuck in reverse…..”. The Firm is definitely, stuck in reverse.
So after 20 years they dusted this woman off and decided she’s the answer to their prayers?
Good luck staying relevant.
They’re all ridiculous, the entire BRF. It’s really being exposed now that they are merely images on Zoom like everyone else. No magic hereditary god-given pixie dust saves them from the virus. So they do their bit online and still get to live in obscene luxury. What a scam.
Stop trying to make Sophie happen; it’s never going to happen.
Right. They’ve been trying for months now, but truly no one cares.
it’s so fetch!
Exactly.
At this point the RR are trying to do a job interview with every single member of the royal family in order to try and “replace” the Sussexes. When the public inevitably doesn’t take onto Sophie like the RR keep hoping, they’ll move onto the York girls or something. But you can’t replace the Sussexes.
Look Sophie does her work and does it well but come on. Let’s not make this woman out to be some sort of secret superstar oozing charisma – if she was the RR would have capitalised on her years ago
During the Trump invasion last year, Sophie’s assigned task seemed to keep Ivanka and Jared far away from the Queen. Not a single picture of Ivanka and the Queen has surfaced so she did her job well.
As I have Understand, she came into the family already used to work for a living. No wonder those married-ins do better at working in royal terms, such as Letizia, Maxima, Sophie, etc. With a few notable exceptions that take practically a decade to “finally find her voice” .
Yawwwnnn.
She gets no attention because she’s as dull as dishwater. The most attention she’s got in maybe 5 years was after her mean treatment of the Sussexes. And even then, most people forgot about her again within the hour.
Yawwwnnn. Whatever. 😞
Exactly. People who are the human equivalent of oatmeal are never going to measure up against people who are like a colorful feast. It’s just not going to happen.
The movie “It” (with Clara Bow – not the red balloon carrying clown) explained this years ago. Some people have “It”; some do not. No one knows why. The bulk of the Royal Mayo Clan does not and no amount of clothing budget or dripping diamonds or effusively dishonest praise is going to change that.
One thing I always find weird about the Sophie talk is that no one ever mentions her husband — the actual son of the queen. What is he doing to step up? What does he do at all? Anyway, Sophie would be the perfect person to replace Meghan because she’s not even close to being competition for Kate. And that’s exactly how they like it. They’ll continue to miss the heck out of Harry though.
Very good points made
Edward does a LOT most of it goes un reported by the media as they are not interested in him or what he does. He does a lot for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme – when Phil retired he stepped up and is heavily involved in it. Its been said he will take this over completely when his father passes as well as he will inherit his father’s title – the Duke of Edinburgh.
I looked up the Court Circular numbers and indeed Edward is a quiet workhorse, fourth behind Charles, Anne and the Queen in 2019, and third behind Charles and Anne in 2018. And while his children aren’t little, they are still teens.
It seems that the relevancy and survival of the monarchy rests on the shoulders of the women who marry in, not the men who are born in.
That’s been true for a while (since at least WW2 when the queen was a wild success in the USA and no one cared about the king). And my theory is that it’s because the things royalty does (taking cute pictures, ribbon-cutting, fluffy charitable work) are all associated with femininity.
Edward has always had high engagement numbers, usually around the same as Andrew. And he was polite to Harry and Meghan during the commonwealth service so he should be given credit for not being a rude ass. Sadly his wife didn’t get the memo.
Me asking: who is Sophie Wessex?
Rest of the world: That’s exactly the point!
What was the quote last week about Sophie compared to Meghan? She’s a ford fiesta and Meghan is a Lamborghini? that pretty much sums it up. The Lamborghini is ALWAYS going to get more attention and its not really the fiesta’s fault, its just how it is.
sophie is fine. I have questions about her behavior behind the scenes, based on what we saw at Westminster Abbey, but in terms of appeal, she’s fine. She works, she seems close to her kids (without all the PR about being a “hands on mother” and totally normal), she does a lot of international travel – she’s fine. She’s not exciting, she’s not charismatic, she’s just….fine.
And that’s okay, but that’s not going to replace the Sussexes and its not going to help keep the royal family relevant.
She’s fine and safe. Won’t rock the boat in either direction for the monarchy. Won’t be competition for Kate, most importantly. I just can’t help but laugh at the fact that this lady has been there for 20 years but is stepping up to replace someone who was only around for 2.
By not putting her food bank visits in the CC, she’s letting the Cambridges continue their lazy ways which is what they like. There remains no justifiable reason why they haven’t left Anmer to physically help at a shelter or food bank. The “young royals” are in the lowest risk age group of the working royals whereas Sophie is over 50 where the risk is more significant. Kate clearly has time to darken her tan, so maybe she can sacrifice some of that time to actually help others.
Once a week zoom calls are pathetic for the FFK and FFQC. The tabloids are only looking at Sophie as a replacement because the supposed superstars are so useless and have been for years. It was easy to shift blame on the Sussexes and divert from the real issue, which is that the second in line heir and his wife are dilettantes who do the absolute bare minimum.
What did she do at Westminster Abbey? I thought she and Edward both talked to Meghan and Harry and behaved pleasantly to them.
Sophie pointedly ignored Meghan and Harry and did not look in their direction at all. Edward was speaking with them. Sophie instead made it a point to only speak to Kate and William. It was pretty obvious in the video.
Joining Kate in church doing a mean girls’ act against Meghan (and) Harry.
Not regular royal follower so I’d like to know if there’s a recording of the full event somewhere or is this based on some choice shots that were made public?
Just curious because can’t recall Wessex being mean, but may have completely missed something with irregular news consumption.
@Nan it was the actual video of the royals arriving. So Harry and Meghan are there with Edward and Sophie, Edward is talking quite happily with Harry and Meghan, chatting away, sophie barely looks in their direction. Will and Kate enter, Kate completely ignores H&M, and she and sophie start laughing and chatting together. It was pretty poor behavior on both Sophie and Kate’s part, especially when you consider they knew the cameras were on them.
At first I tried to give Sophie the benefit of the doubt for it, because I can imagine she didn’t to lean over Edward to try to converse with H&M, that can be awkward, but when you watch more of it, its really obvious she was ignoring them. Like I said it was on video, so its not a matter of a few random pictures.
@Becks1 Thank you. That is disappointing indeed. 🙁
She always seems more of a lady in waiting to me, rather then a working royal.
Yes, that’s perfect.
She and her husband work hard in the family ‘firm’ but I recall this is exactly what Seward said a few weeks ago about another married in Duchess.
Sophie and I are the same age and while she’s aging quite nicely, she’s never going to spark the interest of the younger generations and that’s what the royal family needs to remain relevant. The Wessex’s don’t live where the younger generations live, social media wise, they don’t project an understanding of the needs and challenges of the younger generations, they just seem a bit boring.
Personally, I used to really like Sophie until I saw her attitude at the Commonwealth Service and poof, just like that I’m done with her. I imagine that I’m not the only one either.
I was quite disappointed with her at the service as well. It seemed so desperate to snub Meghan and Harry so obviously for the sake of pleasing the Cambridges.
But work ethic wise, Sophie has more than disproven all the hands on mother excuses that Kate has trotted our over the years to justify the horrible engagement numbers.
Sophie had a business before she got married. It wasn’t a bs position. And when she first married into the family she kept running the business and did engagements as well. A fairly significant number. Sophie also almost died giving birth to Louise. And even during that year she still managed more engagements than Kate ever did.
Sophie can give speeches without people cringing and she has been steady at around 300 engagements per year, some of them including women’s issues. The problem is the media never found her as interesting as the younger royals. And once William and Kate got married, the media switched focus and they pretended Sophie never existed and ignored how a hands on mother had been tripling Kate’s output even with young children.
That business closed with over a million in debts Sophie never paid.
You are not the only one. I always have been a quiet fan of Sophie’s, but her rude behavior that day completely altered my opinion on her. I couldn’t unsee it.
I think this is why Sophie didn’t like Meghan
(apparently she is the one that called Meghan a degree wife. ) Meghan is a very hard worker and her work gets attention. Sophie doesn’t have to worry about Kate and William being hard workers. I think Sophie wants to be the royal that is known for working hard.
After her behavior at the CW service I find her very shady.
I had to google “degree wife” and LMFAO! Sure, Jan. If Harry just wanted a wife to get the whole thing out of the way and produce his heir & spare before a quick divorce/return to party boy life, he could’ve just married a white-English aristo (or middle class aristo wannabe).
The fact that Meghan and Harry were only a team for the working royals for 2 years and they’re desperately trying to find a “replacement”…..I thought they were irrelevant? I though they weren’t apart of the slimmed down monarchy? Why are they pulling someone even further down the line to try and replace them?
I’m sorry, you lost me the first time you claimed that Meghan, who was a working member of the royal family for less than two years, the last year of which she was mostly on maternity leave or her extended mental health break, is somehow the lynchpin in the survival of a 1500 year old institution. Meghan’s popularity is dismal in the U.K., with the exact people whose tax dollars support the monarchy. It would take a massive overhaul of the British system of government to abolish the monarchy entirely and the citizenry certainly isn’t going to rise up and do it on behalf of someone they apparently loathe.
Stop lying! Do you live in the U.K.? Meghan was and is very popular hence all the negative media against her.
When someone gave the Queen flowers to pass on to Meghan or at the races, the crowd was shouting for Meghan and all her events were packed out with well wishers and crowds!
Please stop trying to rewrite history that is clearly documented on social media and normal media.
Meghan didn’t really take a maternity leave. She never stop working and her work in less than 2 years had more influence and impact than anything Sophie or any other royal woman did the last 20 years.
She broke historical records with her editing of British Vogue, same for the cookbook and the capsule for smart work.
Let’s not even talk about Harry And the invictus games + Sentebale.
Her popularity isn’t even “dismal” as you say. It’s only the baby boomers and older gen y that truly have an opinion on Meghan and the monarchy. Everyone else truly doesn’t have much of an opinion on the monarchy – good or bad. The only time people really care is during weddings/births/major life events. The average citizen on the street isn’t going “Oh did you see that the Duchess of Cambridge did an engagement today?!”
I agree. The monarchy won’t be dismantled now. But as a new generation comes in and an older generation who truly cares starts to die out (as grim as that sounds), who knows what the future holds.
Would anyone have predicted in 2010 that Andrew would step down from his duties a decade later?
From the crowds who scream Meghan’s name, and the way the youths responded to her at that school she toured, the average person seems to adore her. The constant hit pieces in the media have brainwashed a few haters like YOU. But from what I have read AND seen YOUR loathing is just that YOURS! You can’t speak for anybody else.
Tax *dollars*?
Yes, tell me more about how people in the UK feel about Meghan.
Boom!
This! Guess the OP doesn’t know our currency is knowns as Pounds Sterling (£). Plus we would never ever use this phrase.
@Silas Good catch!!! Tax dollars…..a Briton talking 😂😂😂
Ha!
@Lolo, put down the ***** ****.
There is a video from the Ascot Races, when the carriages carrying the Royal families passed the grandstand and take a wild guess who got the most applause, the carriage with Meghan and screams of Meghan’s name.
I can’t speak to Meghan’s popularity in the UK, to your point about being the lynchpin of the continuation of the Monarchy, I agree that is a bit of fan fiction.
The BRF have survived centuries and this one couple isn’t going to ‘save’ it or ‘bring it down.’ It is inevitable that change will occur when TQ passes and Charles is crowned and it is likely that will begin the slow end to the Monarchy – not because of any one set of people or events, but simply because the time for Royalty really has passed.
I just don’t see the general public caring about the Cambridge vs Sussex, Petty Betty etc. Standom hysteria.
Now do I buy there are certain sites that are surviving on M&H stories? Absolutely, especially in the pandemic dearth of gossip.
Sites like the Daily Mail and all the royal hangers-on in the media desperate for attention?
The British tabloid media needs a scapegoat. Meghan, Harry and Archie being out of that environment turns the focus back on the rest of the family.
I think it’s less that the monarchy will begin to end than it will be sharply curtailed in terms of the ridiculous amounts of money given to this family without oversight. That has continued because no one wants to take on the Queen and even Charles may be effective at blunting that negative attention because of his charity work but I don’t think Kate wearing the occasional frock from Zara will be as effective.
I think the first few years after the Queen dies will be full of stories like how the Crown properties were mismanaged and money was redirected or how much she enabled Andrew. The dam will break for all the stories held back out of respect for th Queen.
It’s a funny thing in terms of how the white public percieves royals and money. When some royals spend it, it’s about demonstrating the impressiveness of their position. When other royals spend it, it’s about the waste of taxpayer money.
Perfect summation.
Yes, clearly those are the only sites riding the wave. 🙄
Ah, trolls at it again. Fail and tumblr miss you.
The UK could keep the same system of government without wasting £600 million a year on these pampered poodles. It requires honest people being in charge of the finances, ripping away all the Freedom From Information Acts (TM) around royal funding, and royals being held to strict budgets.
Meghan is the 8th most popular royal in the UK. The Queen, Charles, the Cambridges, and others are more popular than her. The Royals don’t need her to save them.
William and Kate need to follow her, atleast she gets out there like Meghan, come on these people need to earn their keep, I’m sorry but if the direct in lines make/control more money than the rest of the brf they should be working more than the others not expecting the others to save their asses everytime, get rid of the monarchy everthing is so backwards!
But that’s the thing about being royal. It’s not about earning anything. It’s about keeping your privilege. In that sense, the Cambridges are very royal.
The brand that worked for the Queen and in some way helped Charles recover from the really bad PR of the Diana years is that they had a sense of duty and just did the work. Of course we can argue that Royal work isn’t work, but at the end of the day the Queen did hundreds of engagements for decades well into her 90s and still does more than her late 30s grandchild and in law. Charles has also put in the numbers and while some people didn’t like his environmental causes and the royals are hypocrites about it with travel, no one can deny that things like the Prince’s Trust has directly helped people. Both Charles and the Queen were smart enough to build a legacy by being seen to do royal work. It’s that legacy that is letting them get away with dumber moves, in particular the Queen protecting Andrew.
When Charles was going to be Prince of Wales, he took the time to learn Welsh and he did so under the age of 20. William is next in line to be Prince of Wales. Has he even bothered to learn the language as his father did? He can barely speak French and that’s an easier language.
Meanwhile, William is going to be 38 next month and what exactly has he done? To date he’s provided a lot of excuses for not doing the day to day work and he can’t point to having created unique projects like Invictus Games or Sentebale. William doesn’t have a legacy outside of providing PR releases that he’s going to be keen in the future. He’s benefitted a lot from being Diana’s son and the sympathy created after her tragic death, as well as the protect the heir approach of the media, where his drunken exploits were not covered and his adultery hidden in a country wide media blackout. If he didn’t have the good PR defending and embiggening his every move, most people would see him for the quasi celebrity dilettante that he really is. There is no work ethic there. Even using the royal standards.
William’s brand is talking about grand ideas and doing nothing of substance. That’s not going to provide long term good will. In a world going through upheaval because of the pandemic, the BRF can’t rely on simple obedience by the Uk people to keep them living a luxurious lifestyle and doing nothing in return.
He’s Diana’s son and … that’s about it. He’ll try presenting giving his kids a happier childhood than his as his work but fair play to Kate, she and Carole and the nannies did that. William on the other hand has already made weird comments that make him sound like he’s not around his children that much.
No EarthShot Prize, no yacht race, couldn’t even smile while clapping for carers. Theere’s that movie with footballers talking about mental health coming out which will have very privileged people talking about dealing with mental health issues but I doubt they will be derided and gaslighted about it. I also have a hunch that part of the movie will deal with racism in football but with no talk about William being bored by it.
The hoarding money is not good, it can be going towards kids, and medicine disabled helping everyone that needs it, they’re billionaires profiting off us EVERYDAY when they dont care.
Yes she is , 100% white, 100% boring.
Can they stay focus on her and leave Meghan alone??
Oh yes nobody is interested in her she doesn’t generate clics
The reason why the likes of Sophie and Anne can ‘just get on with it’ is because literally no one give AF about them. I always respected Sophie until that CW ceremony, and that recent video with Kate, she had her nose firmly up her arse.
Outside of the various Standom’s, do most people really give AF about any of them? Outside of the gossip (which is pretty slow because pandemic) they don’t particularly serve much of a purpose to the general public.
After Sophie’s performance at the Commonwealth service I beg to differ. Quite frankly, what the Royal Family needs is her husband Edward, as Sophie will simply serve as a nail in it’s coffin.
Sophie showed she was a bitch before the Commonwealth Service, there is a video of her telling off her protection officer.
When she first came on the scene and got a short haircut, she was going to be the new Diane, well she didn’t have Diana’s charisma, so now she she is going to be someone else.
So is Sewer trying to say that after two months, the lamebridges are not enough.
Jealousy was always the Windsors downfall.
Anne will be 70, and you would think she is pass all the jealousy, but she is out there putting her digs at the younger Royals.
It was weird how she looked almost exactly like Diana, same haircut and everything. You can copy someone’s look but you can’t create charisma, unfortunately for Sophie and Kate.
If you read what was on the “Sophie tapes” she was very aware that she looked just like Diana, and also aware that she would never have Diana like popularity.
That whole family is jealous and envious, straight down to the childeren! Otherwise, why was george telling folks to call him Archie??? Where the hell did that made up story come from??
George was too young to be jealous. I think the entire story was made up and leaked. You know how Kate SWF’s other people? I think it’s more likely that was their way of leaking the name and associating it with them.
@Shelley
Are you seriously accusing a child of jealousy? Goodness gracious !!!!!!
I used to like Sophie. What’s to dislike? She was hardworking, hands on mom and occasionally had some interesting sartorial pieces. But the way she treated Meghan and Harry as if they’d done something personally to her? Nah. Hard no. Done with her. It’s nice to see her volunteering. Something all of them can do, tbqh. But outside of that? Nope. Bye.
Everyone in those pictures should be masked up. Especially the one where they’re all standing around talking. Sophie! Get with it!
Keeny Kate stamps her royal feet, “The buttoning of the buttons is HARD WORK!!!!”
Exhausted she keenly drops to the sofa while screaming, “ Soooophhhie, get your white ass up here, the buttons, and the family need yooouuuu!!!!!
🤣
If the House of Windsor is relying on the wife of the 11th in line to the throne it’s in a bigger mess. The press can only do so many puff pieces on the Cambridges; and I know the BM want to go after the Rose gardening and the Foundation shenanigans. A Cambridge scandal will sell and they know it. I also believe the BM is frustrated with the Sussexes because they are among people that won’t rat them out, people so wealthy the press can’t bribe like the Markles. Even the staff won’t talk or risk being blacklisted. So the press has to dig up old boyfriends to tell stories about Meghan.
Meghan did not just pick glamorous or attention-getting projects, her projects received attention because Meghan picked them. Meghan has charisma, the others, well, not. No one will “replace” Meghan but the recent trotting out of Princess Alexandra on a video call shows that they are sure desperate to try! I really don’t think they get how uninteresting they are and that some people, like Diana and Meghan, just have “it” and that they never will.
Meghan went to an all Girls School, the suppose boyfriend is years younger than Meghan, so when she was a Senior in high school he was in middle school.
Usually all girls schools do joint events with all boy schools.
???
You must be a DM reader. Poor thing.
Well she made herself stand out at the Commonwealth ceremony with her sullen freezing out of Meghan and Harry – she and Kate should have had a contest to see who had the best bitch-face.
I’d rather they embiggen Sophie if they leave HM alone. But of course these royal experts can’t and won’t.
Sophie’s relationship with the Queen didn’t just come about naturally. Sophie reads military history, has gotten involved in horse racing, and has her daughter learning carriage driving BECAUSE those are things that interest QEII and Philip. She knows which side her bread is buttered on.
Charles wanted her and Edward out as working royals for his reign. Queen’s previous private secretary advocated for keeping them and Charles got rid of him. Now because of W&K laziness and Harry and Meghan’s departure? He has to keep them on the books and in their ridiculously large home.
The calculated behaviour with the Queen and then freezing out the Sussexes to ingratiate herself with the Cambridges also shows where the power lies in the family, or at least where she thinks it does. Sophie knows the Cambridges weren’t innocent regarding the press treatment of the Sussexes. If she did think that she wouldn’t see any harm in talking to them. And really Kate’s bitch face at the church service more than confirmed their involvement without Sophie doing a thing.
As mentioned by Kaiser, it’s interesting that they feel that Will and Kate are not enough, and they need this women to “ replace” Harry and Meghan. That tells you that the Royal family know that a huge vacuum has been left. Also it shows that they really are completely clueless. They think that people were interested in Harry and Meghan because of the Royal family.The fact is that Harry and Meghan were the ones who brought the interest to the Royal family, and you can’t replace the charisma like replacing a missing car part. These people are not interchangeable and the dynamism, warmth, and appeal of those two can’t be replicated. It’s not just that they they have great chemistry together, but their energy and the fact they wanted to be innovative in their approach to Royal work. That is what I’ll miss most about their Royal role and excited about how they will work independently going forward. They talk about duty and work, but when the ones with charisma wanted to do that, it made the Royals more jealous and insecure. Look at the obsession with this book coming out or where they may be living in LA. Not interested in seeing rude Sophie cut ribbons and visit whatever, because no longer interested in the Royals.
Does anyone remember when Princess Margaret was still alive, and a right Royal mess? They used to rope in Princess Alexandra or that horrible Princess Michael to bolster the good news stories. This feels a bit like that. Sophie is unexciting, but has always behaved herself, and is being the responsible mentor for the two lazy Cambridges, as if they don’t yet know what’s expected of them, which sounds about right. The RF lost their charming, charismatic couple and left to battle on with the bland, beige brigade.
Meghan is gorgeous and has star power but TBH that’s no what the British monarchy is about… its lasted over 1000 and will likely continue to last long past the exit of M&H…. they will go on the form their own brand, charity and existence….. the monarchy is not a meritocracy and M&H we’re always going to end up as minor figures if they stayed….
Harry and Meghan are the only ones connected to the Windsor family who have any form of charisma. No matter what they do, it brings attention. That’s what would have continued to happen when they were part of the 6-person working royal family moving forward.
They weren’t going to be ‘minor figures’ but 1/3 of that core group. Probably given most overseas and all Commonwealth work. They were going to be the focus of attention for the next 20 years. That upsets W&K, who want all the attention with no work and no charisma.
The BRF’s days are numbered. Charles will end up king of England and little else, William will likely not see the throne.
It’s not a meritocracy it’s a hereditary monarchy…. charisma matters not a s**t …. the monarchy has adapted and survived and will continue to do so…. they survived the period of the French Revolution and the Russian revolution, they survived The abdication in the 30s and they will survive the age of Instagram….
@Juniper, I don’t think nota meant they will disappear completely just be even further diminished. And if charisma doesn’t matter then why all this angst about Meghan and Harry, especially Meghan? While you may believe they are perfectly happy being royal and that is enough, clearly they don’t see it that way. Hence the ridiculous parade of articles about “being a statesman and finding ones voice.”
The royal family got removed twice and then certain families were pushed out because they weren’t in favour of the government. Edward VIII being the most recent example of it. There is no guarantee of anything especially with a world wide depression and in the UK Brexit decimating the economy. The Queen gets credit for being there forever, but they know she won’t be around for much longer so they tolerate it. Charles is going to face much more scrutiny and William even more. The UK isn’t the nation of forelock tuggers it was in 1936. And there is the problem of Andrew, who the BRF are protecting. It’s probably the biggest mistake made by the Queen and it won’t be ignored. Harry moving to the US and wanting to earn his own money is not going to be viewed as a bad thing outside of deranged royalists.
Prince Williams owns shares in big companies in the Commonwealth countries too, its unfair he hardly cares about these coulntries, if he wants to set up a nice little nest egg he has billions to do so, he shouldn’t get rich off countries he knows nothing about the dailygoing ons. It’s just greedy. The poor and hard working deserve a break, they deserve nice things with their family not paying for greedy people like this endlessly. It’s just greedy.
Prince Williams owns shares in big companies in the Commonwealth countries too, its unfair he hardly cares about these coulntries, if he wants to set up a nice little nest egg he has billions to do so, he shouldn’t get rich off countries he knows nothing about the dailygoing ons. It’s just greedy. The poor and hard working deserve a break, they deserve nice things and time with their family not paying for greedy people like this endlessly. It’s just greedy.
Agree with MsIam. If everyone knows the order of succession, why all the hysteria and smears in the first place? Why the hostility to Meghan? So what if they were popular and charismatic, it wouldn’t interfere with the crown, and it brought a huge interest to all the royals. I just feel like this was of no benefit to anyone and was a vicious waste of time. I really hope the Sussexes find the support and fulfillment they need. As noted, the Royals will carry on, and would have been just fine if they hadn’t decided from the get go to attack Harrys wife, but they did, and here we are. All the political turmoil and uncertainty these past few years, and the Royal decided to get in the muck of the worst of it, instead of showing true leadership, and unity. Can’t undo the damage they did to destroy this one woman and the marriage of one of their own. And for what, because she sent some emails at 5 am and drew large crowds?
To be honest I doubt the monarchy is going anywhere soon because of what they represent- tradition, history and Brits generally seem to love being subservient to a ruling class& the monarchy is ultimate symbol of that. A lot of affection for the royal family is tied up with the Queen because she’s been monarch for so long. I think there will be a shift when she goes eg slimming down of costs& events but think they will be there.
Historically, monarchies have only fallen through violent upheavals. I very much doubt that the British monarchy will end in any of out lifetimes, mainly because no one in the political establishment wants it to end. Because Britain doesn’t have a written constitution it would be a lengthy and expensive head-ache to unravel the BRF from the Crown, especially in terms of property. Rn, the political establishment have far more serious and pressing head-aches: the pandemic and then Brexit.
The British monarchy is surviving on pure inertia (and a general apathy on the part of the public) – it is an ancient institution and those have a LOT of inertia. Furthermore, the British monarchy is the ONLY restored monarchy to actually survive in the long term. The only monarchy I can be see be abolished in out lifetime is the Spanish one.
I do think that changes will happen after the Queen dies, especially since the economic effects of the pandemic will take years to dissipate. William is a dud but a monarchy is not about merit but about heredity. He will be king – hopefully, he will preside over a much reduced monarchy in terms of public funds. He’ll still be disgustingly rich and he’ll probably be lazy as hell – and no one is going to do anything about it.
That’s why I didn’t think an American would ever work in the BRF. Merit verses Inherit.
It’s possible to work full time and do volunteer work. One look at my small community, state of California and across the US. It can be seen everywhere. We have one group who made 2,000 masks, another collecting food, etc. Sophie is simply another useless BRF hanger on.
Poor Sophie, I wonder if she understands she’s also going to be volunteered for “Throw under the bus” duty? Especially if the embiggening gets somebody riled up again. No good deed goes unpunished I guess.
The press and the courtiers trying to make Sophie happen her behavior towards Meghan and Harry at the church services was ugly and uncalled . Her behavior clearly was her attempt at getting good with the Cambridge’s also she behaved nasty at Meghan and Harry wedding too but so many people were quick to make excuses for her saying she was pregnant and uncomfortable. Two instance in the public where Sophie show her true colors to the world to see. Sophie is just as snobby and petty as the rest of the family I do believe that she also leak some things to other people in the press about Meghan it was allegedly she was the one that’s said Meghan was nothing more then a starter wife and no one in the family like her . Sophie can try all she wants to be the apple of the public eye but the same press that hyping her up will be the same people throwing her the bus when the Cambridge’s need to uplift to the world to show how amazing they are .
You got Sophie and Zara mixed up. Zara was the one who made faces at the wedding.
What Sophie did do at the wedding, like most of the royal family members, was totally blank the bride during the ceremony. She, Kate and Andy were really obvious in their determination to not look at the bride. The only RF members who looked at the bride and groom, that I could see, during the vows ceremony were Edward and his son James
That was Zara who was pregnant at HM’s wedding, but otherwise I agree with your points.
I can’t get into Sophie after her cw antics. But good for her for volunteering during the pandemic. So Sophie can be out volunteering. And Eugenie and Jack have volunteered at the Salvation Army, what’s keeping WK cooped up inside?
‘Sophie does everything very quietly, partly because the media don’t follow her obsessively as they do with William and Catherine and partly because the things she does aren’t necessarily very glamorous.’ blimey! Just say you wanted Meghan to be a doormat and be done with it😤
Sophie has no spine so I’m sure she would be happy to be the punching bag FOR AWHILE but once it affects her kids(her daughter is still bulliied for her eye condition) she and Edward will finally understand why the sussexs left. No amount of stolen jewelry or fake praise could be enough to swallow that hate. I mean how long before her publicity stunts end up annoying the keenbridges who cant stick to zoom sessions forever! Soon they’ll probably take over projects from her or put their name on a fundraiser she organised you just wait for it🙄
A couple of more Sophie articles on how “the queen relies on her” and how solid and steady she is should just about do it. Then watch for the torpedoes being aimed at her. Besides I thought Kate was the one everyone in the family relied on? I’m no Sophie fan but she seems to be the type who realizes that sometimes you’ve got show you’ve done something besides just show up.
The embiggining of Sophie the Snot may be tied to BP’s comment on the Finding Freedom book. It was called a “soap opera”. If the book is no big deal why comment at all? I think the royals are afraid things will be revealed that will make the Great White Dopes the Cambridges look bad. Too many hit dogs are hollering….LOUDLY.
Dull, boring and can’t draw attention. Yeah she is what they need. Fits right in.
I think people like Anne and Sophie, who just do the work with little spotlight, are exactly what the BRF needs.
I’m not sure the Americans here really understand how the BRF is viewed in the UK. The royalist generation is dying out, and the rest of us are basically just tolerating them because there’s no pressing need to get rid of them. The BRF is safe right now because most of us don’t pay them any attention outside of mocking them. If they can stay quiet they might last another few generations. If they’re loud and keep reminding us they’re there, it’s going to end with Charles.
Nothing the royal family does can justify its existence in the modern world. The notion that God gave one bloodline the right to rule is so ridiculous in the 21st century, that it makes all of Britain look like fools.
I think the Cambs are interviewing for positions: 1. Don’t outshine the Cambs and 2. Be prepared to be thrown under the bus anytime the Cambs need to deflect attention. Sophie is boring and white bread , she will do fine with #1. She might not be so “keen” on #2.
And there is precedent . Anne works hard and somehow avoids getting thrown under the bus (despite having her share of shadiness). I’m curious about how she negotiates this with Petty Betty and Chuck and nml Bill. They seem to avoid going after her.
Tinfoil tiaras, anyone??
Anne is a blood princess. All the married-ins (Sophie, Kate, Meghan) will be thrown under the bus before Anne. Anne has a lot of “numbers” that the family can point to, to “justify” their existence. Anne is not glamorous and does not make the other royals jealous. And because Anne is not glamorous, the tabloids don’t publish her every move, so mis-steps are not publicized either.