Earl and Countess of Wessex and Family Current Events 10: November 2018 - March 2023


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To mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the Countess of Wessex has written an article for the Telegraph:


** telegraph article **
 
Prince Edward on the relevance of the DOE Awards for today's youth.

 
iceflower said:
The Countess of Wessex paid a "virtual royal visit to Libya to champion Women, Peace & Security", she met a "range of women,including peacebuilders, civil society & refugees to discuss key issues affecting women & girls in Libya":


** Pic **
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Countess of Wessex, such a lovely lady after Crown Princess Mary certainly my favourite royal.
 
Prince Edward looks so very happy lately and seems to really enjoy his interaction with the youth. They also seem to like being with him and their conversations. He and Sophie are really down-to-earth and a delight for the Royal Family. The Queen and Philip must be very proud of how they have stepped up to the plate for their country in such an unassuming and delightful way. Many of my close friends in UK are really impressed with this couple.
 
I actually think that Sophie and Edward have done nothing differently. I do believe that there was plans for Sophie to increase her workload this year - but I think that more to James's age then M&H. And with Corona who really knows what the plans really were. I was told that Ed and Sophie work would be taken a different direction this year -and that was in October 2019. But I think whatever that was is now off the cards.


I was unable to find the link to the DOE Awards Canada - when Edward surprised the organization by attending the whole Skype of several hours rather then just calling in at the time of his speech. But as he would have been in Canada for this - that is what he does.


I don't really think that Edward and Sophie consider themselves part of the royal family core. Edward himself considers themselves irrelevant and the DOE organizers themselves believe he is happier in planning the charities, event and such then been its figurehead.
And as far as the Queen and Duke go - I don't think they appreciate them at all. Part of the Queen's job is to ensure the future of the monarchy. Edward is once again irrelevant to that. Yes - she will have tea with them to see the grandkids but essentially they are 13th in her line of attention. I cant remember where Edward said it but when asked if he was Queen's favorite child - he commented that he was below several corgis and horses as well.
Edward's relationship with the Duke of Edinburgh - essentially boils down to one thing they were working together often and Edward is available - unlike jet setting brothers and nephews. However even this relationship comes down to rank and will always be overlooked by the palace for prime charities and patronages. Again rank and the fact that the palace officials really dislike him.
When the Duke of Edinburgh passes I expect Charles and William to take center stage at the funeral and maybe Anne, if they don't allow Harry to do his bit. Odd when you think that Edward will inherit the title and does a lot of the Duke of Edinburgh's work now.


Mind you, Edward and Sophie don't care or feel slighted in the less.
 
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Claire said:
I actually think that Sophie and Edward have done nothing differently. I do believe that there was plans for Sophie to increase her workload this year - but I think that more to James's age then M&H. And with Corona who really knows what the plans really were. I was told that Ed and Sophie work would be taken a different direction this year -and that was in October 2019. But I think whatever that was is now off the cards.


I was unable to find the link to the DOE Awards Canada - when Edward surprised the organization by attending the whole Skype of several hours rather then just calling in at the time of his speech. But as he would have been in Canada for this - that is what he does.


I don't really think that Edward and Sophie consider themselves part of the royal family core. Edward himself considers themselves irrelevant and the DOE organizers themselves believe he is happier in planning the charities, event and such then been its figurehead.
And as far as the Queen and Duke go - I don't think they appreciate them at all. Part of the Queen's job is to ensure the future of the monarchy. Edward is once again irrelevant to that. Yes - she will have tea with them to see the grandkids but essentially they are 13th in her line of attention. I cant remember where Edward said it but when asked if he was Queen's favorite child - he commented that he was below several corgis and horses as well.
Edward's relationship with the Duke of Edinburgh - essentially boils down to one thing they were working together often and Edward is available - unlike jet setting brothers and nephews. However even this relationship comes down to rank and will always be overlooked by the palace for prime charities and patronages. Again rank and the fact that the palace officials really dislike him.
When the Duke of Edinburgh passes I expect Charles and William to take center stage at the funeral and maybe Anne, if they don't allow Harry to do his bit. Odd when you think that Edward will inherit the title and does a lot of the Duke of Edinburgh's work now.

Mind you, Edward and Sophie don't care or feel slighted in the less.
Click to expand...

Are you trying to say that the queen and duke of Edinburgh don't really care about their youngest son and his family because he is the youngest child and therefore not important enough? So, they receive them and their children out of pity and not out of genuine affection?

Of course, Edward will not admit to being the queen's favorite child (whether true or not); so a joke about corgi's is a great way to dug that question.

And state funerals go by order of precedence, so as eldest son (and heir) Charles will take center stage but that doesn't mean that Edward isn't important.

N.B. Charles will inherit the Duke of Edinburgh title if his father passes before his mother; otherwise it will merge with the crown (as Charles would have inherited were it not for him being king). Charles will have to award the title to Edward once both their parents have died (as has been discussed extensively in other topics).
 
Somebody said:
Are you trying to say that the queen and duke of Edinburgh don't really care about their youngest son and his family because he is the youngest child and therefore not important enough? So, they receive them and their children out of pity and not out of genuine affection?

Of course, Edward will not admit to being the queen's favorite child (whether true or not); so a joke about corgi's is a great way to dug that question.

And state funerals go by order of precedence, so as eldest son (and heir) Charles will take center stage but that doesn't mean that Edward isn't important.
Click to expand...

Nope - Sure they do genuinely care about him, but I doubt that they take much interested/pride in anything he does.
Of course we really don't know - but as far as self - depreciation goes Edward does it in bucket loads.
 
Isn't it fairly well known that Sophie's "Teacher's Pet" with HM? I remember quite a few different people writing about that over the last couple of years.

Obviously some things like the funerals will come down to rank and some of the Patronages too but he has some pretty big ones (Paralympics IIRC), DOE Awards is nothing to sneeze at, even if he got it by default.

Haven't most of the family made (not really joking) "jokes" about the Corgis being the things the Queen loves the most? Pretty much all her grandchildren have been said to be her favourites at one time or another (William's actually by far the least likely to get called that) and I've never had the feeling that it goes in rank order at all in affection, even if there are times when rank takes over because of the job. Always take with a pinch of salt but there were a few articles along the lines of "she spends a lot more time with Louise and James because she's handed off more duties/slowed down a lot" a while ago. And there's always stuff about Phillip and Louise having a strong bond due to a mutual love of carriage driving.

I can see why they might well consider themselves outside the royal core and maybe not get on with Palace aides (seems no one gets on with them) and that they like it that way for many reasons, but I've never got the sense that HM doesn't appreciate what they do. For one thing they're the most likely to go to all the foreign celebrations, funerals, events etc partly because they can be trusted not to get into trouble, not to mention sometimes hosting events for HM at BP. That's a pretty big responsibility.
 
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Claire said:
Nope - Sure they do genuinely care about him, but I doubt that they take much interested/pride in anything he does.
Of course we really don't know - but as far as self - depreciation goes Edward does it in bucket loads.
Click to expand...

Why? YOu've said that they dont seem to care much for Edward and that htey dont take any pride in what he does and he doesn't care that they dont care... and that he's about 13th in their estimation...
 
Heavs said:
For one thing they're the most likely to go to all the foreign celebrations, funerals, events etc partly because they can be trusted not to get into trouble, not to mention sometimes hosting events for HM at BP. That's a pretty big responsibility.
Click to expand...

A lot of the European weddings that they attended was on their own invitation - that is not to say The Queen will not ask them to represented her as well. That is why we had The Wessex's and Princess Anne at one wedding and The Prince of Wales and the Wessex's at another.

If they were really trusted with responsibility they would have more international tours and more meaty patronages and charities. I know of several patronages that specifically requested one or the other - started talks - one for a year - only to be told that Harry, Meghan and Kate were better fits for their cause. The royal family is a pecking order of rank and the Wessex's are well aware of their position. And yes I think that does affect their closeness with the Queen in the end.
 
Claire said:
Nope - Sure they do genuinely care about him, but I doubt that they take much interested/pride in anything he does.
Of course we really don't know - but as far as self - depreciation goes Edward does it in bucket loads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying; so you are mainly referring to his professional life that they don't really care about. Is that correct?

I would expect the DoE to be truly happy to see how his son and daughter-in-law have taken up the DoE Awards; and I would think they are happy to see how both of them have grown in their roles and truly value those working hard in the background.

Claire said:
A lot of the European weddings that they attended was on their own invitation - that is not to say The Queen will not ask them to represented her as well. That is why we had The Wessex's and Princess Anne at one wedding and The Prince of Wales and the Wessex's at another.

If they were really trusted with responsibility they would have more international tours and more meaty patronages and charities. I know of several patronages that specifically requested one or the other - started talks - one for a year - only to be told that Harry, Meghan and Kate were better fits for their cause. The royal family is a pecking order of rank and the Wessex's are well aware of their position. And yes I think that does affect their closeness with the Queen in the end.
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It makes sense that the royal family was looking for ways to grow the number of patronages of the younger generations more recently, to me that doesn't automatically mean that the Wessexes weren't valued.

And I don't understand why you feel the need to play down their representation of the queen at foreign royal activities (mostly without any other sibling), it is clear that they are doing a great job in that area. And I'm glad they do as the other royals mostly cannot be bothered it seems.
 
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Denville said:
Why? YOu've said that they dont seem to care much for Edward and that htey dont take any pride in what he does and he doesn't care that they dont care... and that he's about 13th in their estimation...
Click to expand...

It is not for me to say they don't care for him, sure they do - but in the grand scheme of things the Queen has a lot on her plate and Edward is usually the one forgotten. That been said it is probably 100 better then the attention that he got from the Queen Mother and he was only pulled out for photo ops.

You do realize that Edward was the son they forgot to pick up at school. Charles ordered that the cut the electricity to the apartment switched off during the Balmoral holidays when Edward asked for it be restored it was said that the palace had forgotten he was there. Interesting fact - Edward wore hand-me-downs until he was over 21. The only piece of clothing brought specifically for his use were the page clothes he wore for Princess Anne's wedding. None of these anecdotes talk to his relationship with the Queen - just that he is often forgotten in the royal whirlwind.

The Queen is the only mother he will ever have and he is happy with whatever time is spends with her. He has noted that he is especially fortunately to still have his parents at his age. The Queen however has four children and several grand and Great Grandchildren as well as a country to run.
 
Claire said:
The Queen is the only mother he will ever have and he is happy with whatever time is spends with her. He has noted that he is especially fortunately to still have his parents at his age. The Queen however has four children and several grand and Great Grandchildren as well as a country to run.
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And -as she has been slowing down over the last decade or so- it seems she has been able to spend more time with Louise and James than with her 6 older grandchildren when they were young :flowers:
 
Claire said:
It is not for me to say they don't care for him, sure they do - but in the grand scheme of things the Queen has a lot on her plate and Edward is usually the one forgotten. That been said it is probably 100 better then the attention that he got from the Queen Mother and he was only pulled out for photo ops.

You do realize that Edward was the son they forgot to pick up at school. Charles ordered that the cut the electricity to the apartment switched off during the Balmoral holidays when Edward asked for it be restored it was said that the palace had forgotten he was there. Interesting fact - Edward wore hand-me-downs until he was over 21. The only piece of clothing brought specifically for his use were the page clothes he wore for Princess Anne's wedding. None of these anecdotes talk to his relationship with the Queen - just that he is often forgotten in the royal whirlwind.

The Queen is the only mother he will ever have and he is happy with whatever time is spends with her. He has noted that he is especially fortunately to still have his parents at his age. The Queen however has four children and several grand and Great Grandchildren as well as a country to run.
Click to expand...
She doesn't run the country, never has, and I hardly think that her son, even if he was the 4th child really never had new clothes except for teh pages uniform for Anne's wedding.
 
Claire said:
A lot of the European weddings that they attended was on their own invitation - that is not to say The Queen will not ask them to represented her as well. That is why we had The Wessex's and Princess Anne at one wedding and The Prince of Wales and the Wessex's at another.

If they were really trusted with responsibility they would have more international tours and more meaty patronages and charities. I know of several patronages that specifically requested one or the other - started talks - one for a year - only to be told that Harry, Meghan and Kate were better fits for their cause. The royal family is a pecking order of rank and the Wessex's are well aware of their position. And yes I think that does affect their closeness with the Queen in the end.
Click to expand...


The Queen has sent them as her representative several times and from that they made friends with other young royal couples and got invites on their own merit.

Whilst they don't get the big splashy royal tours on behalf of the government very often, neither do/did Anne or Andrew (alleged favourite). Sophie has made many trips to places like Hyderabad and Kenya and the now virtual Sierra Leone trip with her patronages and obviously Edward would be in Canada if possible right now. I do wish these trips got more attention for various reasons. They did get an official tour in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee to the West Indies and a few on other occasions.

I do think that Sophie is starting to get the "underrated, hardworking royal" articles that Anne has. Anne also went thought a very long who? phase in terms of visibility because she wasn't showy or interesting but I don't think that lessened her place with her parents. I also don't think that being the "forgotten, dependable ones" is such a bad thing at the moment, although it might feel like being the other brother with the Prodigal Son. Apart from anything else, they get to live their lives in peace as they see fit, unless they majorly screw up and they already know what that's like.

The situation with the patronages being given to the younger royals is unfortunate, although I can see why there was a push to go with the younger, high profile faces in theory, but that doesn't mean no one appreciates what they do with the ones they do have.

I'm taking the clothing situation with a pinch of salt but if at least partly true it wouldn't necessarily be unusual for that era especially with parents who grew up with rationing etc for the youngest in the family with two older brothers to live mostly in hand me downs, especially good quality ones.

I have no doubt rank does affect the family even in their private moments but they all have mixed feelings about The Firm but there hasn't been much to suggest that she bases her affections or appreciation on rank order, even though she was very busy for many years. Charles has talked about his difficulties with his parents and almost everyone BUT William has been mentioned as her "favourite grandchild" over the years.

https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/a-look-back-at-the-wessex-royal-year-135537/

This look back at 2019 for the Wessexes suggests his parents do value their work, with the events they hosted, the Earldom Edward was given, the (not flashy) Patronage Sophie was handed and the trips they took. Many of them could not have happened without the acknowledgement of the Queen. They probably took up less of her time worrying about them because they didn't create an incident or terrible headlines though.
 
:previous: I thoroughly enjoy coming to the Wessexes threads. Despite the pandemic they seem busy enough with virtual and live engagements on behalf of the Queen. They are articulate, pleasant and engaging; very often with a smile and a good sense of humor. Edward and Sophie appear happy and content as individuals and as a family. I can't think the Queen spends any time worrying about these two.
 
Wonderful to see The Countess at the All Souls' Day Service at Westminster Abbey,very poignant this year given the UK and Worldwide death toll from Covid19.
 
The Earl of Wessex as Patron of London Youth presented the charity's 2020 Prince Philip Award to London Funders today:


** video **
 
Today, November 5, the Earl and Countess of Wessex spoke to community leaders in Devon "about the county's response to Covid-19, and later heard from the Theatre Royal Plymouth about their arts programmes for disabled adults":


** Pic **
 
Heavs said:
The Queen has sent them as her representative several times and from that they made friends with other young royal couples and got invites on their own merit.

Whilst they don't get the big splashy royal tours on behalf of the government very often, neither do/did Anne or Andrew (alleged favourite). Sophie has made many trips to places like Hyderabad and Kenya and the now virtual Sierra Leone trip with her patronages and obviously Edward would be in Canada if possible right now. I do wish these trips got more attention for various reasons. They did get an official tour in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee to the West Indies and a few on other occasions.

I do think that Sophie is starting to get the "underrated, hardworking royal" articles that Anne has. Anne also went thought a very long who? phase in terms of visibility because she wasn't showy or interesting but I don't think that lessened her place with her parents. I also don't think that being the "forgotten, dependable ones" is such a bad thing at the moment, although it might feel like being the other brother with the Prodigal Son. Apart from anything else, they get to live their lives in peace as they see fit, unless they majorly screw up and they already know what that's like.

The situation with the patronages being given to the younger royals is unfortunate, although I can see why there was a push to go with the younger, high profile faces in theory, but that doesn't mean no one appreciates what they do with the ones they do have.

I'm taking the clothing situation with a pinch of salt but if at least partly true it wouldn't necessarily be unusual for that era especially with parents who grew up with rationing etc for the youngest in the family with two older brothers to live mostly in hand me downs, especially good quality ones.

I have no doubt rank does affect the family even in their private moments but they all have mixed feelings about The Firm but there hasn't been much to suggest that she bases her affections or appreciation on rank order, even though she was very busy for many years. Charles has talked about his difficulties with his parents and almost everyone BUT William has been mentioned as her "favourite grandchild" over the years.

https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/a-look-back-at-the-wessex-royal-year-135537/

This look back at 2019 for the Wessexes suggests his parents do value their work, with the events they hosted, the Earldom Edward was given, the (not flashy) Patronage Sophie was handed and the trips they took. Many of them could not have happened without the acknowledgement of the Queen. They probably took up less of her time worrying about them because they didn't create an incident or terrible headlines though.
Click to expand...

Edward and Sophie were the only relatively young married couple in the early-mid 2000s within the immediate Royal family so back then they used to get dispatched to various engagements / weddings of European royals as representives of the British Royal Family. So I think it started out as duty but over the years they have built up good relationships with the European Royals.
 
"The Countess of Wessex has shown her support to @Girlguiding and @BBCCiN and completed her own #ActYourAge challenge. HRH, President @Girlguiding, put on her apron to earn a Pudsey badge and baked 55 cheese & bacon scones earlier this week! "


https://twitter.com/x/status/1326943675520327682

"On Thursday 12th November Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex made a private visit to our Foodbank to help out. Her Royal Highness spent time talking to volunteers about how they have responded to the Covid-19 emergency."


https://twitter.com/x/status/1328784529625006080
 
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Yesterday, November 18, the Countess of Wessex participated in a meeting of "Women Mediators across the Commonwealth Network, to celebrate the role of women peacebuilders":


** Pic **
 
"On Friday 20 Nov, we were honoured to receive a virtual visit from His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex. His Royal Highness learned more about the work of the Lancashire Resilience Forum and how we're working together to support our residents during the pandemic."


https://twitter.com/x/status/1331198168659320832

"Today I stand with survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, as we mark the International Day to End Violence against Women. To the inspirational survivors I have met through my support of @end_svc- we will continue to fight against the stigma and silence. - Sophie."


https://twitter.com/x/status/1331651199397978117
 
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I am very surprised that Sophie does not have a mask on and is not staying 6 feet apart?! That is a disappointment. It appears the royal family will not be gathering around the Queen this year if they are so lax with mask wearing. IMOO....because she is a high profile royal, she sets an example to the citizens and well, she and her team goofed big time! I hope she nor her family or the ladies present get Covid or even the flu. Covid is an ugly virus that acts quickly.....already have lost a family member and it is devastating.
 
The photo was from several years ago. The Wessex's as is the whole are in lockdown again.
BP however should have given the date of the pic.
 
I agree that this was a bad PR move from Sophie's team. If they really wanted to include this particular photo, a notice that it was taken before the pandemic (as they do on some television programmes that are filmed before Coronavirus) would have been better.
 
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