I’ve said this a few times now, but it definitely feels like the Earl and Countess of Wessex – aka Prince Edward and Sophie – are trying to make a name for themselves in the wake of Prince Philip’s death. To be fair, Sophie and Edward have been desperados for a while, before Philip’s passing. Sophie was even desperate to be upgraded to a bigger role following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s exit. But after Phil’s passing, Edward and Sophie have kicked it into high gear. They’ve given several interviews to the Telegraph, CNN and BBC Radio One, and it absolutely feels like a Grief Tour, a look-at-us tour. But here’s the kicker: apparently, “sources” want to emphasize that Sophie and Edward are only doing what Philip would have wanted them to do. Philip wanted them to be famewhores?
The Countess of Wessex being in the spotlight is what Prince Philip ‘would have wanted’ and helps to ‘keep his memory alive,’ a royal author has claimed. Her Majesty’s daughter-in-law Sophie, 56, has often been noted as the monarch’s ‘favourite’ family member and closest confidante and has reportedly been encouraged by the monarch to fill the gap left by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following Megxit at the start of 2020.
‘The Queen is very canny. And she has always been very fond of Sophie,’ Ingrid Seward said, speaking to The Times. ‘Prince Philip adored Sophie, and the Queen feels that now is the moment to push her, just gently. “Give some interviews, do some stuff. You work very hard, no one takes any notice. Get out there!” I can see her saying that.
‘It’s what Prince Philip would have wanted, and now he is gone, doing what he would have wanted keeps his memory alive. I think he would have really liked Edward and Sophie to be a bit more high profile.’
Considering Prince Philip had a long, well-documented, on-the-record hatred of journalists and all media, I actually do not think he would want his son and daughter-in-law to seek publicity from his death?? Granted, I didn’t know the man. But it doesn’t sound like him. I think Philip would have just been happy to see his family get on with things and try to hold the whole sorry monarchy together and Sophie and Edward aren’t really doing that. In fact, I have no idea why they’re leaning this hard into “it’s what Philip would have wanted” or “the Queen has encouraged this.” Charles is in charge. The Wessexes need to be kissing up to him and I don’t think they have been.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The Wessexes are really, really worried about their financial situation—that much is clear.
Agree, the not the heir family members will probably never be poor but the hustle to stay on the money train is visible. Exhibit 1 Andrew with his daughters.
Yep. Charles isn’t a huge fan of Sophie. Sucking up to him isn’t going to work and they know it. They’re hoping for William’s support.
Yeah, it seems like the resurgence of the “slimming down the monarchy” talks have put quite a bit on pressure on them. It’s distasteful to use someone’s death to promote yourself but this is the BRF; grifting is acceptable if you do it while having the correct hue.
They are totally worried about their finances! Has anyone ever taken a look at where they live? It’s a huge house…once the Queen dies I’m sure they won’t have enough to keep it going. With this “soft regency” going on they need to remind the world, Charles, and William how much they are needed. Charles won’t fall for it but William might since he is so lazy
Until William is king he doesn’t the money to support them it not to support them!
@Fawsia Not entirely true. Once Granny is gone, and William becomes Prince of Wales, he inherits the Duchy of Cornwall from his father – and all the money that goes with it. He could choose to use some of that money on Uncle Eddie and Sophie is he wanted to.
What are the odds that Carole will have her hand out for some of that fabulous Cornwall cash?
Yeah with their round of interviews you barely get new info on their work so it’s hardly promoting the monarchy as such. I never really realised the royal family were all such attention whores.
I don’t think they really were until meghan came on the scene and she was showered in admiration and love at first (well apart from kate. She’s always been attention seeking) I think they were all a bit jealous.
Desperadoes😂 and yeah these attention-seeking desperadoes should be sucking up to Charles and not the press. I’m guessing for whatever reason Charles really doesn’t like them so there’s no point.
Does charles like anyone at this point? And i mean anybody besides Camilla.
Ok good point.
Himself. Charles just adores himself.
Nobody likes Charles and Camilla except for the two of them liking each other.
I guess it’s nice that one person in the world loves Charles, but how come he of all people gets a soulmate and I don’t? 😛
They were also in Scotland on Monday. No one cared. The interest in that generation of royals has long since faded.
Her famewhoring is laughable. And pinning it on a dead old man? Yeah, Sophie and Kate are cut from the same cloth. And if Phillip would have approved of their famewhoring, why did they wait till he died then start their shameless “see me, see me, see me ” campaigns? Sophia is behaving like PP died a couple of months after she married in the royal family. Like the Wessexes have been married for 20+ years and PP died only a couple of months ago, non? Why didn’t she start displaying her thirsty for attention ways soon after her wedding? Oh, I get it, she attempted by selling access to her new family and putting it our there that she was bearding for Edward, LOL. Betcha PP shut her down pretty quick because he didn’t approve of her famewhoring ways. Now she sees he dead and can’t object, now it’s all “Oh PP would have approved”? They all are, other than the Sussexes of course, a bunch of morons.
@ BabsORIG, lest we not forget that when someone mentions Sophie, the first response is, “Sophie who?” She has no morals or substance to offer anyone and she knows it. Just like she has perpetuated this myth recently about being the rock holding up TQ! Sophie MUST be blind because she has been in the shadows for decades and none of her recent famewhoring is standing up to her decades of being absent from PP and TQ! Plus, she is certainly barking up the wrong purse strings. If she thinks that her “recent” position as the rock for TQ is going to help them in the long run, they are surely mistaken. I would place bets that her recent position with TQ, is so that she and Edward are set for life after TQ dies because we all know Charles is cutting off their lifestyle.
I completely agree, Babs – if Philip wanted them to have the spotlight, he would have pushed for that during their decades of marriage while he was alive.
This desperate, pick-me thirst for attention would be insulting if it weren’t so pathetically laughable.
@BothSidesNow, who is touring Scotland with the Queen right now? William, not Sophie…So for all of this, “Queen’s rock” talk, it doesn’t seem like she needs the Fiesta for royal affairs.
She married Edward for a reason.
But the attention seeking is very tied to their finances. They want the public to love them so it’s harder for Charles to cut them loose when the queen is gone.
No one cares if Sophie’s the queen’s favorite whatever, and no one cares what Phillip would have wanted for the Wessexes. Those relationships do not make the Wessexes interesting, because they are, in fact, dull as dishwater.
Aren’t they?!! They are the most boring of the lot, and that’s saying something….
Why is it always the in laws who are her favourite. What does Anne have to say about this ? It must drive them nuts how many articles are all about these desperate wives and not the queen’s actual children.
According to statements Kate’s people said to US magazine, KATE, not Sophie, is the favorite. The queen’s greatest comfort is knowing she can reply on Kate to handle matter in her absence; the queen trusts Kate’s judgment implicitly; Kate is the queen in waiting; how Kate may change some outdated rules when she becomes queen; and or course, the “Kate is her rock” repeated. As unbelievable as all that sounds, they really said it.
Maybe all the grifters, hangers-on, and sycophants need to check with each other before putting out conflicting stories on the same day.
On the one hand, I think it’s probably a good idea to be boring in the royal family if you want to survive the royal family. Look what happens to the interesting in-laws, after all.
On the other hand, if you are into famewhoring, someone has to care about your personality or fashion or snappy remarks or ANYTHING and I tend to forget Edward and Sophie exist.
I don’t think Phillip would have wanted Sophie to give a bunch of interviews after his death, no.
There is definitely an attempt to push Sophie into the spotlight and its just falling embarrassingly flat. She should just keep doing her thing and not worry about the attention. But I said the other day that I think this is about getting her name out there as much as possible so she is viewed as indispensable to the monarchy.
How long can she use Philips death for that tho? Its been what? 2/3 months now? People have moved on from his death and the grief-tour is not going to have the same effect a year on.
She’s definitely gunning for more visibility. That much is sure.
@Becks1 – I agree with you. The Windsor have a problem if they are going to continuing doing Royal Bread-and-Butter engagement at the grassroots level: they simply do not have enough working royals to fulfill the numerous request they receive to have a royal present at important local events. The Wessexes are already working royals so let them step up their number of engagements. I continue to believe that “locals” really want a royal at the opening ceremony of their village fetes or dedication of their new sports playing field.
I know I am going to get mud-slung at me for saying what I am about to say; I see the Wessexes as a lot of things, and not all are positive, but I do not see them as “famewhores” for the sake of “fame” itself.
Not for the sake of “fame” itself. Can kinda agree with that@btb. I mean it’s for the sake of “survival” in that they want to stay on the payroll for the work they do, which is understandable. Unfortunately, royalty is about both fame and the bread and butter events. Would feel more sympathy if Sophie wasn’t a b*tch about Meghan.
I don’t think they need a lot of Royals. I think they need the Royals they have to actually accept and appreciate that the bread and butter engagements are what keeps them afloat. They don’t need big fancy accomplishments and foundations. They need to shut up and cut ribbons. Just because Charles could juggle both doesn’t mean everyone is cut out for it. The Queen understood this and only Anne seems to have actually embraced it.
Cut to me eating my second doughnut of the morning, with a tear in my eyes “it’s what Prince Philip would have wanted”
I have a relative that pulls out “it’s what they would have wanted” about a deceased family member anytime she wants to manipulate people into doing what she wants. Dead relative seems to have a lot of opinions on soft furnishings, painting the kitchen and holiday destinations. Who knew the afterlife was so busy.
LOL, I’m looking at a box of chocolate chip cookies right now. I…feel…someone…wants…me…to eat them…who could it be?
LOL!
One my sister’s favorite is: “Mom really would not have like that dress on you”!
Yeah, it’s amazing some of the stuff the dearly departed ‘would have wanted’
LOL at the donuts and chocolate chip cookies 😂😂😂
Oooo, I can actually use that. My recently deceased Grandpa had a sweet tooth that rivals many a child on Halloween. He would ABSOLUTELY have wanted to share these cupcakes with me, but he’s not here, soooo…this cupcake is for you, Grandpa!
Ingrid Sewage living up to her name and spewing made up garbage again. “I can see her saying that!” These royal reporters are literally paid to just guess what the Queen might be thinking and pass it off as fact. If it’s about the Sussexes, then it’s negative thoughts and if it’s about anyone else, it’s positive thoughts. Glorified bloggers and mind-readers, nice work if you can get it.
And they get paid hefty for it too.
Ingrid Sewage indeed! I saw her deprecating comment on the Oprah interview before it was shown. How she deplord everything that Meghan said but was very careful not to critique Harry directly. That was her pre-planned stance without having heard a single word of the interview.
I know she wrote a book about him, but ingrid seward has absolutely no idea to what Philip would have wanted. I actually think he wouldn’t like Seward much himself.
I read that book, and he didn’t! She mentions that he either blew her off or ignored her most of the time when she was in his vicinity/talking to him. Made me wonder why she bothered doing a biography of him.
I’m sorry but this is one of the funniest headlines I’ve ever read on this site. Keep talking, Sophie.
That’s what i came to say!! Thanks for the morning laugh, I needed this.
Desperate ford fiesta
If it’s really “what Philip would’ve wanted”, why on earth did they wait until he was dead to launch this bizarre and desperate publicity drive?
A curious cut and paste – “Sophie, 56, has often been noted as the monarch’s ‘favourite’ family member and closest confidante” are exactly the same words used in the piece about how she’s an unlikely rock for TQ. Maybe next time they can make the epithet shorter – “Sophie, the Queen’s Favorite.” Or better yet, she could wear one of those Royal Warrant seals around her neck.
I am sure that Sophie is much less complicated to deal with than Unable McButtons. If I had a choice for a work colleague between Sophie and McButtons, I would definitely take Sophie as a player on my team.
Sophie actually shows up, so yes, I second that.
Someone once told me that showing-up for work was 50% of the job! LOL!
Philip had decades to push this narrative and we got this nice pic of Sophie and a bike.
Let’s make every Royal story in here about Ed & Sophie and push Bill and Cathy out of the Google algorithm. It’s what Philip would have wanted! I’ll go first: Sophie hates Americans and ignores them in church.
So, no quote from Sophie that Phil actually said this to her but he would have wanted it? So why didn’t he encourage it while he was alive? His ghost hangs around the castle and speaks to her now? And the Queen after seemingly not caring for years whether or not Sophie gave interviews suddenly is pushing it? Why is the “rock” and Queen’s best friend not with her in Scotland? Could it be they are using someone’s death for notice? Maybe they think they can catch up with H&M and get contracts when Charles downsizes? All this desperation for notice from different members makes it look as if the Queen is in ill health and they’re all preparing to be down-sized or change up positions.
She looks cute in the bike photo. They live in Windsor so they have been day to day w/HM & DoE for a the past years. I agree they are concerned w/their livings.
I agree but they could downsize just like normal people do. Also, where is her husband in all this? Couldn’t he have a quiet word with his brother?
After her disgraceful and mean girl performance at the CW towards both Harry and Meghan, she really should reassess that decision and remain obscure.
My theory now is that Charles is completely in charge, and has been for some time; that way, when the queen dies and people say “We don’t want a Charles monarchy,” he will say “Ha! You’ve been living under one for years!”
The S.S. Sophie sailed years ago. They really must be freaked out about their financial future.
No I don’t think this is what Philip would have wanted but anything to justify the press seeking I suppose.
I’m guessing she wants her name out there to show Charles that she’s indispensable and how he cannot “afford” to lose her (and Ed). And honestly, she may have a point. If Charles drops the Queen’s cousins and the Wessexes he’s only got himself, Anne (assuming he doesn’t drop her either), Camilla and the Cambridges. The Cambridges don’t work so Charles will need somebody to keep doing those “bread and butter” engagements. The Wessexes are really, Charles’ only option at this point.
She better be careful what she wish for. Let’s assume she get a higher profile does she think William will let her share that spotlight ?
Or Carole and Kate? Those are her real enemies. If I were Sophie I would just stay in my lane.
Wouldn’t he have encouraged them to do that while alive? Or is she in contact with him beyond the grave? This grief tour is really weird
Poor Sofiesta, all this pushing and she is still as bland as toast.
When an article written about you to supposedly push the idea that you somehow are indispensable and yet includes the line “nobody takes any notice”? You know its bad, really bad, lol.
But if we ding them on shameless self-promotion, what will the institution have left at this point? The monarchy is built on entitlement and jockeying for position. The public-facing stuff is nothing more than the model being used by social media influencers, they simply adapted it for the technology. The BRF is simply a bit more fusty in their methods.
Exactly. They no longer serve a purpose. Abolish the monarchy.
I think when an institution only serves itself and looks backwards rather than forwards, they have confirmed their irrelevance. I honestly believe a big part of the issue with Meghan was that she had vision and she was looking to use her position in a future-forward way. Coddled/very privileged people are almost always afraid of the future imo, because it means they might have to actually compete, rather than be handed things just because. That would certainly be William’s attitude.
The only real role is opening parliament etc, but that could be changed through legislation, and even if not, is something that you could take time off from your real job of driving trucks to do.
Random thought: if the Will and Kate divorce theories are true, then what if this campaign to Make the Wessexes Happen is to try to have Sophie fulfill the “Kate” role in the media? (As in have her be the pretty one with the pretty clothes who people pay attention to.) She’s not ideal for it (neither is Kate really) but if Kate leaves, who else do they have?
That remains to be seen, but it can’t be worse than what they have now. That bar is set very low.
If Will’s quest for the future of the monarchy is to let the bread and butter engagements fall by the wayside in favor of the BIG PROJECTS, then they won’t need as many royal personnel to do engagements.
Of course the big projects thing is a scam to the UK public to avoid working. Staff will take care of the big project gruntwork while Wills presents the launch at the beginning and the spectacular results at the end. Boy, aren’t you Brits lucky.
Sofie is getting up there in age and the media and society are agist! They want a pretty young thing! Maybe her daughter
Thirsty people do desperate shit
I totally get why Sophie and Ed are desperate they are trying to stay relevant, boost their recognition and parlay that into future financial security but I think the approach of this media tour is pretty weak. I mean, I’ll bite on the Queen’s favourite bit because I think it is true but this Phillip angle is trash. Maybe just maybe you could pull the line of the Duke’s death reinforcing the need for the family to work together and Sophie and Edward are more determined than ever to do their part in supporting the Crown and protecting the Queen and Phillip’s legacy but Edward and Sophie deserve more fame cause that is what dead Phil would have wanted seems laughably bad.
Next thing you know they’ll be treating Phil’s ghost like Granny Diana and invoking this is what Phil would have wanted at every opportunity. Sigh.
I guess plans to accept fringe members is still going forward despite H&M’s exit.
I think this is their version of “let me go to the statue unveiling!” press, personally, but instead it’s “don’t cut us off!”
Sophie was always hungry for fame but her missteps early on meant that she had to lay low for about 15 years. It wasn’t Philip’s death alone that spurred on this new effort but Meghan joining the family.
My goodness the desperation is flowing off all of these people in practically visible waves.
Somebody has consistently been left behind from the Scotland charm offensive and wants to be included.
So, I’ll take the bait for Prince Philip’s sake and try and get interested in Sophie. But I’ve seen her fashion for years and she’s not inspiring. Her husband/family provokes zero interest. We even had a peek inside Bagshot recently where she posed for a few pics and that looked like a mismatched mess. I do think that she does a good job with her royal work, but so does the Queen and Charles and Ann. She’s very ordinary, very boring, and that’s okay. Now, if the family wants to roll out Penny in some official capacity because that’s what Prince Philip would have wanted, then they’d have my attention!
The BRF has become a posh version of the Kardashians. Fame-wh0ring is line #1 on their CV’s.
They should be careful about bringing attention to themselves, their children are teenagers and will be picked to pieces by the press to cover for William. I wouldn’t want to see the press going after their kids the way they did to Harry, Beatrice and Eugenie .
Maybe Phillip didn’t leave them as much money as they thought he would. I still don’t understand why there’s no trust fund for each family.
I think I read somewhere, many many years ago, that QEII sat up individual trust funds for Anne, Andrew and Edward at birth with “private” funds she inherited from her father. However, I could be wrong
IIRC, this info make have come out to the light of day at the time of the York divorce negotiations.
I think they can somehow downgrade housing but they are worried about security costs especially after their kids turn 18 or 21? Lifelong security cost would not be cheap. Yes they may not be as high profile but the risk is still there. That’s my theory anyway.
I’m old to remember when they tried to made Sophie the new Princess Diana and she even had the same haircut for a while but nobody was buying what she was selling
Not to mention the Sophie scandals of 2001
Which was why she had to fold her PR company
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/apr/08/uk.news
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/sophie-humiliated-as-she-quits-over-scandal-26089435.html
Those articles are fascinating to read. Yet Meghan sends 5am emails and has the wrath of the entire country aimed at her.
This comes down to Edward being promised the title of Duke of Edinburgh once it returns to the Crown (re: when TQ dies and Charles basically relinquishes most if not all of his titles once he is King). Edward, and Sophie, have been involved in the DoE Awards for some time. They’re holding on to those promises, which are within Charles power to “respect” when the time comes.
I suppose the rent and upkeep on Bagshot Park must cost a fair bit. Maybe that is getting to them. In which case, they could always downsize. Who on earth really needs a sprawling mansion with 120 rooms and 50 acres?
I hope all these people keep talking about themselves and fight it out while Harry and Meghan live their best lives. Sorry taxpayers.
As an aside Sophie is still bitchy but she can show KKKate up if she was allowed to.
Sophie could definitely show-up KKKate up if she was allowed to.
Cut the woman some slack please. The Queen is 95 years old and deserves a well earned rest. She is in her twilight years and will soon go to the other side. Sophie and her husband are helping out the Queen with some of her duties. They work hard. They dont’ have a media machine behind them telling the world how great they are non stop. They are not attacking Harry or Meghan daily with leaks telling everyone about their concerns about Meghan’s suitability. They seem to be Queen Elizabeth’s rock and the only two she truly trusts. We should all be so lucky at 95.
LOL, stop. If the Queen wants to rely on Sophie then fine, but she has participated in publicly freezing Meghan and then they gave that “Oprah who?” interview. The only reason they haven’t continued in that vein is because their statements only elicit laughter. They’ve done their best to try to be stars and it falls flat and that’s why they don’t have a media machine behind them, not because they’re tactful or anything of the sort.
Also…we should all be so lucky to have only two people we trust at 95? Ok.
This is the third article on them being “rocks” in the past month, not to mention interviews. We get it, we get it. And I thought that one of the features of rocks is that they are strong and silent. As far as whether they are attacking Harry and Meghan daily we have no idea who is doing it, do we? Its all anonymous “insiders” and “sources”. These two are jockeying for something, they are doing way to much self-promotion for a couple of background players.
Seems to me like the Queen is prepping Eddie’s transition to Duke of Edingburgh.
lol go get that spotlight Sophie. try the best you can.and keep on trying till you maybe one day make it .lol.
Seeking the spotlight is pointless if the spotlight doesn’t want you to be found lol It’s hilarious that they think they can fill H&M’s shoes lol
I’m sorry but they don’t have “it”.
They are so boring I wouldn’t even notice them in the grocery store. Not even if they were ribbon cutting and opening it 😂.
Dear sophie,
This is not worth it. When you really get the sportlight, willie and kate will turn on you. Your family will be their wipping boy. Think about your children.
Then after a couple of years, charles will cut your finance like the sussex and harry is his son!
Well…. since you are one the minions who make meghan life a living hell too. Go for it sophie. You deserve it. Go chase the spotlight.