Why Sophie is carrying out a 'crucial' role in a difficult royal year

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One week, she was in Tanzania, recognizing progress in that African country in the fight against a preventable and blinding eye disease. 

The next week, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, was out and about much closer to home, recognizing efforts to support people with multiple disabilities in Surrey, west of London. 

She also stopped by a community centre, where she met with parents and played with children during a "stay and play" session, and visited an animal sanctuary, where she had a chance to cuddle a rescue chicken named Stumpy. 

It was, in many ways, a regular royal routine. But Sophie's roster of duties has ramped up considerably in recent weeks. News reports say she is stepping up to fill a royal gap in a year that has seen both her brother-in-law, King Charles, and his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, being treated for cancer.

Sophie "is playing a very important role for the Royal Family because this has been a difficult year for King Charles III and his immediate family," said Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris in an interview.

The Times of London dove into the Court Circular — the official record of royal comings and goings — and concluded that Sophie's workload "more than doubled" in September, compared with the same period last year. While she did 18 engagements in that timeframe in 2023, the number rose to 37 this year.

Sophie, 59, and her husband, Prince Edward, 60, have long been known for busy royal schedules, and in years gone by have sometimes gone relatively under the radar as they carried out their duties.

Their public workload these days is, in ways, a contrast to assumptions that had arisen around how the Royal Family would go about its business in the new reign of Charles, who has long been thought to favour a slimmed-down monarchy.

"The accession of King Charles III may have made it seem as though there would be a strong emphasis on the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the royal extended family would not spend as much time in the public eye. But the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have been very crucial to the monarchy's public image," Harris said.

Edward and Sophie have been doing much of the overseas travel, and some lower-profile visits that support Commonwealth initiatives.

"Sophie's been particularly active in terms of addressing preventable blindness and she's travelled extensively in support of that particular cause," said Harris.

During the recent visit to Tanzania, Sophie delivered a message on behalf of King Charles that commended efforts to rid the country of trachoma, an eye disease that is caused by a bacterial infection and can lead to irreversible blindness.

Her efforts in that area are a "perfect example of what a member of the Royal Family can do," said Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, in an interview.

"This is an issue that if you talk to anyone, it would be, yes, that seemed like a really good issue, but it's one which doesn't capture public attention. 

"And in a sense that's … the perfect combination of issues for members of the Royal Family — it's not necessarily controversial, but it is … something that could be resolved and for relatively low cost could improve the lives of tens, hundreds of thousands of people, maybe more."

Prescott sees Sophie's public schedule reflecting a "slightly prosaic" reality: that the monarchy has a certain amount of work it wants to do and there are fewer senior working royals — no Prince Andrew, no Prince Harry, for example — available to carry out public engagements.

"I think in a sense it's a sign of that deep, deep organizational change that's happened in the monarchy."

Those who meet Sophie welcome the opportunity.

"It really was a very special day," the Hale Community and Youth Centre said on its blog after Sophie's visit on Sept. 25.

After such visits, those who spent a bit of time with her often praise the empathy they feel from her.

"Sophie's widely admired for being a very warm, approachable figure and for taking an interest in all aspects of her public engagements," said Harris.

"If she's visiting a hospital, she wants to speak with the hospital staff about what is happening there, but also to connect with the patients about their experience. She's somebody who's very engaged, involved and approachable on these public engagements."

Looking ahead, Harris expects Sophie's profile will continue to increase. She also sees another indication of Sophie's relative rise in public attention.

"We're starting to see a lot of interest in Sophie's fashions to a degree that perhaps might not have been predicted previously, when it was assumed a few years ago that all of the public interest would be focused on Catherine, now the Princess of Wales, and on Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex."

Harris also expects there will be interest in the career decisions made by Edward and Sophie's 20-year-old daughter, Louise, who is studying at St. Andrew's University in Scotland.

"It will be interesting to see if once Louise finishes university, if she does take on any official patronages, or whether, like her cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, she's completely expected to pursue her own career out of the public eye."

A hug for a young cancer patient — and a step in a gradual return  to work

Photos this week on Kensington Palace's social media feeds offered the latest glimpse into the gradual return to work by Catherine, Princess of Wales, after she finished her chemo treatment for cancer.

But the pictures from Windsor Castle also carried a particular poignancy, showing the moment Catherine hugged a young cancer patient who was invited to take pictures at an investiture.

"As in many cases for members of the Royal Family, their own life experiences help them to connect with the public," said Harris.

"And we're seeing Catherine connecting with other cancer patients, as has been the case for King Charles III."

The meeting between Catherine and Liz Hatton, a 16-year-old from north Yorkshire who has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, left the teen feeling "over the moon," the BBC reported.

Earlier this year, doctors told Liz she had between six months and three years to live. The aspiring photographer has a bucket list of pictures she'd like to take, and was invited to Windsor Castle after Prince William heard about her.

The photo of the hug, along with another of William and Catherine with Liz's family, were the first pictures showing Catherine carrying out royal duties since she announced last month that she has finished her preventative chemotherapy treatment. 

WATCH | Catherine says she has finished chemotherapy: 

Princess Kate declares she’s cancer-free in polished, positive video

3 months ago

Duration 2:00

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has finished her chemotherapy treatment, and will gradually be returning to public life. She shared the update, and reflections on her battle, in a rare, polished and positive video with her family.

For much of 2024, Catherine had been out of the public eye, following abdominal surgery in January and a subsequent diagnosis of cancer. 

In a video released last month, she said her "path to healing and full recovery is long." But she also spoke of looking forward to being back to work and doing a few more public engagements when she can in the coming months.

There have been two recent mentions in the Court Circular of meetings she has undertaken — one was held last week regarding planning for the Christmas concert she hosts annually. She also attended a ballet performance, which she later posted about on X.

"There were concerns that her health might preclude a full return to public life, [that] she might always be on part-time royal duties. And now we're seeing that it's clear that she's determined to return to a full public schedule," said Harris.

Some of Catherine's activities are complementing ones William has been carrying out on his own over the past few months.

"We saw him at concerts and football games, but not the ballet and the theatre. So we're seeing Catherine's interest there in the arts coming to the fore," said Harris.

Other factors may also be playing into the gradual increase in Catherine's public profile.

"William and Catherine have always been careful to take time away from public duties when their children have school holidays, so George and Charlotte and Louis returning to school as well is probably also prompting there being more public engagements by Catherine at this time, as well as her health improving after treatment," Harris said.

When Boris met Harry

When excerpts started appearing the other day from Boris Johnson's new memoir, Unleashed, one mention of a royal encounter drew a lot of attention.

The former British prime minister writes that he was urged to try to persuade Prince Harry to stay in the U.K. "Kind of manly pep talk," Johnson said. "Totally hopeless."

Harry and his wife, Meghan, didn't stay, and are living in California with their two young children.

Subsequent news reports have splashed some cold water on Johnson's claim, with the Telegraph reporting that sources insist that Buckingham Palace did not ask Johnson to intervene.

Still, Harry and Johnson certainly did meet on Jan. 20, 2020, at a U.K.-Africa investment summit in London.

And while the exact nature of any private conversations they might have had that day remains a public mystery, the very idea that they chatted — or that a prime minister might get involved in the inner personal workings of the Royal Family — sparks curiosity.

Attention has often focused on the relationship between the monarch and the U.K. prime minister.

"What I think is less explored is the relationship between the prime minister of the day and the other members of the Royal Family," said Prescott.

"We got a hint of this with Prince Charles at least, with his 'black spider memos' [to government ministers 20 years ago]. But how much that is specific to him — he was heir to the throne — at that point, is interesting."

There is precedent for a prime minister getting involved in royal personal matters. Prime Minister John Major spoke privately with both Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, around the time their marriage was breaking down in the early 1990s.

"There's documents in the National Archives that show [Major] arranging meetings with both Charles and Diana, and he became a sort of intermediary between the two," said Prescott.

Pop culture has cast scrutiny on Major's actions, notably in the Netflix drama The Crown.

"Certainly John Major objected to how he was portrayed in The Crown, but the series was attempting to dramatize a time when the prime minister was very much on the scene while there were these very difficult circumstances within the Royal Family," said Harris.

Other royal recollections from Johnson's memoir have also sparked controversy, given the general protocol that prime ministers keep private their meetings with the monarch and private matters of the Royal Family.  

Johnson writes of his last meeting with Queen Elizabeth, two days before her 2022 death, the advice he says she gave him and details regarding her declining health. (While Johnson says she had a form of bone cancer, other reports had previously emerged that she had bone marrow cancer. There has been no confirmation of that, and her official death certificate indicates "old age" as the cause.)

"Certainly it's clear that [Johnson] does admire the Queen and he does say complimentary things as well," said Harris.

"But this being Boris Johnson's memoir, he's very intent on making himself the central figure in all the different scenes that he describes, whether it's his conversations with Prince Harry or his last audience with the Queen....

"And that contributes to the controversy as much as the disclosure of these conversations themselves, the degree to which he's presenting himself as being front and centre."

Royally quotable

"My late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there, in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days."

— King Charles, in a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament. Charles also said "Scotland has always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself."

Royal reads 

1. The real cost of the Royal Family to British taxpayers is £510 million ($913.7 million Cdn) a year — nearly six times more than the £86 million ($154.8 million Cdn) of state funding from the annual Sovereign Grant — anti-monarchy campaigners claim. [BBC]

2. Prince William says he skipped the Olympic Games this year because he did not want to give his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, COVID-19 while she was undergoing chemotherapy. [Sky News]

3. Princess Beatrice is pregnant with her second child, Buckingham Palace has announced. [ITV]

4. King Charles has a zero-waste rule and Queen Camilla likes to do  fancy foraging, according to her son, Tom Parker Bowles, a food critic and writer who has a new book that delves into the history of food in the Royal Family. [ITV]

5. King Charles praised the late Maggie Smith for her "warmth and wit" after the actor's death at the age of 89. [The Independent]

6. A U.S. judge has denied a petition by the Heritage Foundation to release Prince Harry's immigration records, ruling that his right to privacy outweighs the public interest arguments cited by the conservative think-tank. [Washington Post]

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