The late Queen once famously said of Sophie Rhys-Jones that you would not notice her in a room. That was actually a compliment. Early on as a young royal, Sophie learned the art of not being the centre of attention – ensuring the event and what she had to say was always more important than the shoes she was wearing.
That is one of the precious gifts that Sophie brings to the Royal Family – she is relatable, particularly to women.
Sophie was not an aristocrat like Diana or a debutante as Camilla once was – she was a middle-class girl from a village in Kent who always had the happy knack of getting on with people, which meant she was perfect for a career in publicity. After a secretarial course, she moved to London where she enjoyed a busy social life, working for Capital Radio, moving on to being a ski rep and then settling in Australia with her then boyfriend – a relationship that did not last.
She had a proper life before she met Edward but it changed forever when she did. She was hounded by the paparazzi, suffered the indignity of having a topless picture published in a national newspaper, was turned over by the notorious “Fake Sheik” and had to give up her career in PR. Instead, she retreated to start a new life as a junior member of the Royal Family.
Nobody understood at the time that both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had a protective arm around Sophie, happy that their youngest son had found a genuinely nice woman with whom he could share his life, raise a family and continue the best of the traditions.
Sophie, however, did not have an easy time. She went through so much herself: IVF, ectopic pregnancy, a difficult birth during which she lost nine pints of blood and almost died, concern and worry for a child born with a problematic health condition – in her daughter’s case it was the eye complaint esotropia – and, later, her own struggle with the menopause.
She has lent her voice to causes and charities concerning the things she has experienced, including eye charities both at home and abroad in Africa and Asia, the air ambulance service that dashed her to hospital just in time and an initiative to support women in the workplace going through the menopause.
Her voice has been most powerful, however, in speaking out about the humanitarian catastrophe of conflict rape. Three days after she had moved a crowd in Birmingham in November last year, she was announced as the new royal patron of Plan International UK, a global children’s charity that aims to “build an equal world for girls”. It works in more than 80 countries to ensure every child is safe and receives an education.
The announcement featured a picture of Sophie in Chad, the Central African country she had recently visited and where the plight of women and children refugees from neighbouring Sudan had reduced her to tears. Many had been forced to exchange sex for food and water – a bargaining tool of conflict that infuriated and upset Sophie.
Her heartfelt concern for these women can be traced back to a meeting at a film festival in London 2018 with a Hollywood superstar, who is a shining example of using red carpet clout to speak out about the causes that matter in the world.
The Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie became an unlikely mentor and role model for the royal who liked to call herself Sophie Wessex.
Angelina and Sophie were the star guests at the festival entitled Fighting Stigma Through Film, supporting the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) that Angelina helped set up in 2012 alongside then-Foreign Secretary William Hague. Queen Elizabeth clearly approved of Angelina, who was made an honorary dame in 2014 for her campaigning work against sexual violence in war zones.
At the time, the actress explained: “It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict. There is nothing inevitable about it. It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians. It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power.”
Her views resonated with Sophie as did her words to her six children: “Find out who you are, what you think and what you stand for. And fight for others to have those same freedoms. A life of service is worth living.”
When Sophie met Angelina, it was not a Royal Ascot occasion with designer outfits and cheeky hats, although the actress looked a million dollars and the glossy magazines inevitably commented on Sophie’s stylish navy coat.
Soon afterwards, Sophie announced that she was joining the fight to end the silence around women in conflict. To prove that she was serious, she gave a speech in New York to the United Nations General Assembly as part of the UN’s Women in Power event, in which she emphasised the need for women to have a seat at the table of power: “If all the seats at the table are full, you just need to pull up an extra chair. There is no excuse not to include women.”
It was a powerful speech, well made and well meant. At the time there was only one royal story in town – the future of Harry and Meghan. So Sophie’s visit to the state of Kosovo, where she met women victims of war and challenged the stigma of shame they faced, went under the radar.
But her message was strong: “I say there is no place for stigma in our world today – no one should have to feel ashamed again.”
Truly, Sophie had found her voice. The Court Circular was unintentionally amusing the first week of March 2020 when, coincidentally, Meghan made a deft farewell to the UK. It said: “The Queen held an Investiture at Buckingham Palace this morning. The Prince of Wales, President, visited the Royal College of Music. The Countess of Wessex arrived at Juba International Airport, South Sudan.”
Anyone following the news would know that South Sudan was one of the most dangerous countries in the world to visit. Gradually the Royal spotlight fell more on Sophie as she continued to highlight important issues. Another address at a United Nations event in New York in March 2022 let the Taliban have it in no uncertain terms.
She was the keynote speaker at the evening, titled Upholding Women’s Rights in Afghanistan. She said: “Where once there was hope, with women playing a central role in society, there is now hunger, destitution and violence”.
Her powerful message about female victims of war led to her being awarded the prestigious Hillary Rodham Clinton Award in December 2022 and she travelled to Washington to be applauded by the former Secretary of State and First Lady who declared that Sophie was a “trailblazer”.
Britain was slow to recognise Sophie’s important work for women around the world, preferring to feature her in a carriage riding down the course at Royal Ascot to her being the first royal to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her campaigning was clearly getting somewhere, though, because she had been asked to make the trip by the Foreign Office.
She was also the perfect choice to be the first royal to visit the war-ravaged country of Ukraine after the Russian invasion – lending her support and friendship to the First Lady, Olena Zelenska, and being greeted by President Volodymyr Zelensky. At last Sophie was making the news, at a time when the Royal Family was reeling from the cancer diagnosis of both King Charles and the Princess of Wales.
Yet her powerful voice in the world does not mean she ignores the traditions of the Royal Family, taking her place onthe balcony at Buckingham Palace, enjoying fun days out with her family at her favourite Royal Windsor Horse Show or relaxing on holiday at Balmoral or Sandringham.
As she herself observes: “I have to compartmentalise.” Throughout Sophie’s rise to royal prominence, her husband, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been by her side quietly advising and supporting. She praised him: “He is the best of fathers, the most loving of husbands and still my best friend.”
Today Sophie, in particular, in the Royal Family’s recent troubled times, has stood out like a beacon where for years she flew pretty much under the radar. “I don’t know what people thought we were doing before,” she has said with good humour and a hint of exasperation. We are paying attention now. Sophie has become a champion royal, and a royal champion.
- Sophie: Saving The Royal Family, by Sean Smith (Sphere, £25) is available in hardback, eBook and audio