The Countess of Wessex: 10 things to know about the Royal Family’s ‘secret weapon’ as she turns 58

The Countess of Wessex: the Royal Family’s ‘secret weapon’, Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘favourite daughter-in-law’ and a ‘savvy peacemaker’ capable of smoothing the choppy waters between the Sussexes and the rest of The Firm; there are no shortage of extraordinary claims that have been made about the royal, who celebrates her 58th birthday today.

In the almost 24 years since she married Prince Edward, 58, Sophie has evolved from a ‘PR girl’ into a respected and treasured member of the Royal Family who found herself at the very heart of Her Majesty’s inner circle. Indeed, Sophie even once referred to the Queen by a deeply personal nickname, ‘mama’, in a speech. Mother to Lady Louise Windsor, 19, and James, Viscount Severn, 15, Sophie balances parenting responsibilities with official duties and charity work – a load which has only increased in the years since Prince Andrew and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have stepped back from royal life.

Elegant and understated, Sophie is expected to spend her birthday largely under-the-radar, although there is a chance she might hold a private soiree at Bagshot Park in Surrey, where she and Edward gave their children as ‘normal’ a childhood as possible.

Here, to mark the occasion, Tatler shares 10 key facts about the Countess of Wessex. Happy Birthday to Her Royal Highness! 

Sophie built a successful career before marrying Edward 

Sophie came from a middle-class family; her mother was a secretary and her father a sales director for a tyre company. Sophie was a hot-shot PR girl, working for Capital Radio before, in 1996, she launched her own public relations agency, RJH Public Relations, which she ran with her business partner, Murray Harkin, for five years.

It was love at (second) sight with her royal beau

Edward and Sophie reportedly first met in the late 1980s while he was dating one of her friends. A few years later, in 1993, the pair crossed paths while Sophie was at a promotion shoot for the Prince Edward Summer Challenge. The pair started dating shortly afterwards but it would be another five years before the prince popped the question. He got down on one knee while on holiday in the Bahamas, in December 1998, presenting Sophie with a two-carat oval diamond flanked by two heart-shaped gemstones set in 18-carat white gold.

A wedding fit for a princess 

The 1999 wedding of the Queen’s youngest child to his beautiful bride at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, was low-key by royal standards – there was no state or military involvement – but the television broadcast still attracted an incredible 200 million. Sophie’s dress was designed by Samantha Keswick (née Shaw), a silk organza ensemble, decorated with 325,000 crystals and pearls. Her head was crowned with the Anthemion tiara, named so because of the design, the anthemion shapes consist of radiating petals, similar to a fan, and it was chosen from the Queen’s private jewellery collection. The Queen looked utterly majestic in a floor length lilac frock, completed with a diamond hair slide and purple feather. On the day of their marriage, Prince Edward was created a hereditary peer as Earl of Wessex with the subsidiary title of Viscount Severn (now held by his son). The couple spent their honeymoon at Balmoral Castle.

She overcame an embarrassing snafu

Sophie’s successful PR career was brought to a clattering end in 2001, when she revealed embarrassing opinions – including describing the Queen as an ‘old dear’ – to a reporter in the guise of a sheikh (and who she saw as a prospective client). On the transition from ‘career girl’ to a full working royal, Sophie has previously said: ‘Certainly it took me a while to find my feet. The frustration was I had to reduce my expectations of what I could actually do. I couldn’t turn up at a charity and go, “right, I think you should be doing this”, because that’s what I was used to doing in my working life. I had to take a really big step back and go, OK, they want you to be the icing on the cake, the person to come in to thank their volunteers and funders, not necessarily to tell them how to run their communications plan.’

A ‘normal’ childhood for Lady Louise and Viscount Severn

Sophie Wessex was determined to give her son and daughter as normal a childhood as possible, despite their position as the late Queen’s two youngest grandchildren. ‘They go to friends for sleepovers and parties. At weekends we do lots of dog walking and stay with friends,’ she once said in an interview. ‘I guess not everyone’s grandparents live in a castle, but where you are going is not the important part, or who they are. When they are with the Queen, she is their grandmother.’ Sophie and Edward decided not to give their children the title of His or Her Royal Highness. Their children attended local schools and Lady Louise even had a job at a garden centre before winning a place to study at St Andrews University. 

Sophie’s close relationship with the Queen

The Queen is said to have ‘trusted’ and ‘relied’ on Sophie Wessex to a greater extent than many in her inner circle, including even the then Duchess of Cornwall. Some royal experts claimed she saw Sophie as ‘more like a daughter’ than a daughter-in-law. The Queen and Sophie’s close bond is said to be down to their similar interests, with the pair often spending Saturday or Sunday evenings together at Windsor, watching old war films and historical documentaries, MailOnline previously reported. Sophie was often given the honour of travelling with the Queen when she attended church services at either Sandringham or Balmoral, which is said to be a sign of just how close they are.  

Her nickname for Her Majesty 

The Queen was the picture of propriety, particularly while on official engagements. So it was deeply significant when she – or at the very least, her staff – allowed the Countess of Wessex to refer to her by a deeply personal nickname in a speech. In 2019, the Queen and the Countess of Wessex were on hand to celebrate the success of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Trust, of which they served as Patron and Vice-Patron, when Sophie called Her Majesty ‘mama’. ‘Mama, when I have returned from my travels I have been so proud to share with you the work I have witnessed being carried out under the umbrella of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and the care of so many people working so hard to save and cure sight,’ Sophie said. 

Stepping up to fill a void 

The Countess of Wessex has, by necessity, found herself more front and centre in royal life in the years since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from royal duties and Prince Andrew gave up his official duties following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. In her newly elevated position in the royal ‘food chain’, Sophie has served as an ambassador of the crown while continuing to serve causes close to her heart, like fighting for the equality of women and girls around the world. She won particular praise for her stoic yet heartfelt response to the deaths of the Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 

Raising an understated royal star

The proof of Edward and Sophie’s parenting is evident in the quiet success of their daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, who has emerged as a royal star in her own right. The unassuming teenager, often seen in country casuals or prim dresses, spent her childhood largely out of the spotlight, but has recently taken on an increasingly public role alongside her parents. Never putting a foot wrong, Lady Louise channels her mother’s understated nature on royal engagements but, like her grandfather, is most comfortable when surrounded by horses. 

The royal peacemaker 

Around the time of the Queen’s funeral, it was reported that Sophie would play the role of mediator between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the rest of the Royal Family. ‘Sophie is made for the role of mediator,’ a source told the Daily Telegraph. ‘That’s why she was the Queen’s favorite daughter-in-law – she’s down to earth and just gets on with it.’ Other reports said Sophie was the first royal to visit the Sussexes following the birth of their son Archie in 2019. ‘She did the right thing,’ a source told The Times. ‘She got in the car and went over. She has got the empathy and warmth that maybe people who grew up in that family don’t naturally have. Normal people would think: this is what you do. You go; you make sure the new mum is OK and see the baby.’