Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh found it “incredily moving” seeing her children stand vigil with their cousins around Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh found it “incredily moving” seeing her children stand vigil around Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.
The 59-year-old royal – who has Lady Louise, 21, and 17-year-old James, Earl of Wessex, with husband Prince Edward – admitted she wasn’t sure if it would be “appropriate” for her son to join his cousins, Princes William and Harry, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, at the vigil in Westminster Hall after their grandmother passed away in September 2002 but she ultimately felt it was “important” for him to do so, and felt very proud of the whole group.
During a visit to L’Arche – a community in London made up of learning disabilities and their supporters – last week, the Telegraph reports she was asked how she felt watching her two children standing vigil.
She said: “It was incredibly moving and I was just so proud of them – all of the cousins.
“I suppose there was a part of me initially that thought, ‘Would it be appropriate for James, perhaps, to do it?’ because he was younger than the others, but he was really keen to do it. And I think it was really important for him to do it, and obviously for Louise as well.
“But they did it so well, each and every one of them. I was slightly holding my breath, wanting them to feel that they’d done it well more than anything else. I wasn’t worried about anything happening; it was more that I wanted them to feel that they’d done their bit for their grandmother.
“It was incredibly moving, and lovely to see her surrounded by them.”
Sophie then grew emotional and said: “I don’t think I can talk about it any more.”
The former PR executive – who turns 60 on Monday (20.01.25) gave up her career when she married Edward in 1999 but she has found royal duties “utterly joyous” and has learned a lot during her engagements.
She said: “It’s been educating for me. It’s been mostly utterly joyous. I never know what to expect, I never know who I’m going to meet, and I never know what I’m going to learn.
“And the old adage ‘Every day’s a school day’ is absolutely true.”
Sophie is known for being one of the most hard-working royals, in particular supporting the disability sector, and she explained she was keen to find a place for herself that didn’t cross paths with other members of the family.
Asked about the causes she supports, she said: “It goes back to when I first started to get involved with taking on patronages and engagements.
“I was trying to find, not a unique thing for myself, but a direction of travel I suppose.
“And, of course, inevitably every time I went down a route, I found a member of the family working very hard doing something and I retreated a bit and thought, ‘No not there, treading on toes.’
“And I suddenly thought, ‘What have I been doing up until this point and could shape what potentially could be the next move?’
““Because I’d been involved in public relations and communications all of my working life, I thought, ‘Well, so much of that is to do with people.’”
She was drawn to organisations helping those with disabilities because of her interest in how people interact differently.
She said: “We’re all different, but just because we’re different doesn’t mean that we don’t bring something to the party.”
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh found seeing Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren stand vigil ‘incredibly moving’
