Jan. 19, 2025

Sophie Wessex turns 60

Show Notes
Transcript

We celebrate the Duchess of Sussex's birthday a day early. Some call her the Secret Weapon, but life as a royal wasn't always easy for Sophie.

Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed! You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!

Subscribe to Deep Crown’s free newsletter at https://deepcrown.substack.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:14.320
Calorougus Shark Media. Hey, hello and welcome through palace intrigue.

2
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.559
I am your host, Francis. Tomorrow is the sixtieth birthday

3
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.879
of Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, but also the inauguration

4
00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.839
of Donald Trump, which could have an effect on the

5
00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:28.440
royal family. We'll focus on Trump tomorrow ahead of Sophie's birthday.

6
00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.600
The Times share that Sophie will spend her birthday privately

7
00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:34.799
at Bagshot Park, the home she shares with Prince Edward,

8
00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.439
her husband of more than twenty five years, and their

9
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.759
three dogs, a cocker Spaniel called Mole and two black labradors,

10
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.280
Teal and Teasel. Royer Nicker writes, beyond the customary acknowledgments

11
00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.960
of the royal social media channels, the advent of Sophie's

12
00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.039
seventh decade will be marked with little fanfare, which is

13
00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.159
just how she likes it. Sophie has long been considered

14
00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.600
one of the monarchy's safest pair of hands, doted on

15
00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.280
by the Late Queen for her loyalty an unflashy approach

16
00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.040
to royal life. The fourth hardest working member of the family,

17
00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.680
after in order Princess Anne, the King and Edward, she

18
00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:10.120
clocked up two hundred and fifty seven official engagements at

19
00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:14.799
home and abroad last year. Royal biographer Ingrid Sew had said,

20
00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.560
with Sophie, it's not all about her. She was one

21
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:19.959
of the first outsiders who came into the royal family

22
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.079
and realized it's about all of them working together. As

23
00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:25.920
a teen, she really gets that and doesn't want praise

24
00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:30.680
heaped on her. The Times shares this from a former Palisade.

25
00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.159
She's tough, she knows her own mind and will argue

26
00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.120
her corner. There was always a danger people underestimated her,

27
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.760
but she stood up for herself, for Edward, for them

28
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.680
as a couple. Recalling their diary meetings when engagements for

29
00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:45.200
the year ahead were planned, the aide said Edward would

30
00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:48.280
say okay to most things, but she would ask, what

31
00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.239
are we doing that for? What's the value in it?

32
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.640
She wanted to know what they were doing was actually useful.

33
00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.840
Ingrid Sew were reminded The Times that things weren't always

34
00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.599
easy for Sophie, who had said Sophie wasn't from that world.

35
00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.079
She'd never encountered anything like the Royal family. It was

36
00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.920
very nervous, shy and tongue tied when she first met

37
00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:07.680
the Queen, who as a result thought she was a

38
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.240
bit dull and told her friend, you wouldn't notice her

39
00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:12.879
in a crowd. But the more she saw of her,

40
00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:14.520
the more she liked her, especially as she made a

41
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.520
big effort with Prince Philip learning to ride, taking up

42
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.280
carriage driving. The Queen always liked people who could deal

43
00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.080
with her husband. Sophie might be low key, but she's

44
00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:25.639
a lot smarter than people give her credit for. A

45
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.919
source told The Times Sophie and Edward were overshadowed because

46
00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.199
bigger stars in the family came along, and I think

47
00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.039
at times she did mind that, but she was always

48
00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:37.280
pragmatic about their place in the hierarchy. Unlike some others

49
00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:39.319
in the family, the King and Queen are much more

50
00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:41.439
understanding and aware of the role they have been playing,

51
00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:44.280
and as they've come more into the spotlight, the rest

52
00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:47.759
of the family have appreciated that more. The late Queen

53
00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:52.000
always knew it. Sophie is a proper asset. Our royal

54
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.240
inside a deep crown tells us one does rather enjoy

55
00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:57.919
being proven right. For years, I've been telling anyone who

56
00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.520
would listen that Sophie Duchess of Edna bur was the

57
00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:05.080
monarchy's most undervalued asset. Now she approaches her sixtieth birthday,

58
00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.000
it seems the institutions finally caught up with what some

59
00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.360
of us have known all the long. While certain members

60
00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:13.879
of the family chase Netflix deals and other skulk in

61
00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:17.719
Norfolk estates, Sophie has quietly revolutionized what it means to

62
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.479
be a modern royal, and Darlings, she has done it

63
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:24.120
without a single Instagram reel or reality show pilot. Let's

64
00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.319
be perfectly clear, two hundred and fifty seven engagements last

65
00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:30.000
year wasn't just impressive. It was a master class in

66
00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:34.240
royal duty. While others might view such numbers as mere statistics,

67
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.120
those of us who frequent the same circles know these

68
00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:41.439
engagements represent real work, real impact, and most importantly, real

69
00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.280
understanding of what the monarchy needs to survive. Deep Crown

70
00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:47.800
will have more tomorrow about Sophie in his free newsletter,

71
00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:51.520
which you can find at Deep crowd dot co dot uk. Today,

72
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.960
being a Sunday, you can find his usual Sunday column

73
00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.719
at that same website. Premium subscribers to Pallace Intrigue also

74
00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:01.000
receive an audio version of his Sunday column in this

75
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.240
feed also a reminder that today marks the debut of

76
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:07.719
Palace Weekly, a conversational recap of the week's events, which

77
00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:10.479
you will find in today's feed. Beginning at nine a

78
00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:17.279
year east Palace Intriguer be right back. Life in the

79
00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.279
Royal family hasn't always been smooth sailing for Sophie, Duchess

80
00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:23.399
of Edinburgh, who turns sixteen next week. Before joining the firm,

81
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:27.399
Sophie Reese Jones was a successful pr professional accustomed to

82
00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:31.160
calling the shots in corporate communications, but marrying Prince Edward

83
00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.519
in nineteen ninety nine meant adapt into a well the

84
00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:36.639
tradition and restraint. Certainly, it took me a while to

85
00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.120
find my feet, Sophie admitted. Reflecting on her early royal years,

86
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.079
She candidly shared, the frustration was that I had to

87
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:47.199
reduce my expectations of what I could actually do. Sophie

88
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.519
initially envisioned offering practical business advice to charities, but her

89
00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:53.959
role turned out to be more ceremonial. They've expected me

90
00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:56.079
to be the icing on the cake, the person to

91
00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.439
come in and thank their volunteers and thunders, not necessarily

92
00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:03.319
to tell them how to run their communications plan, she said. Still,

93
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.360
Sophie has become one of the royal family's most effective members,

94
00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:11.000
earning her the nickname the firm's secret weapon. Women magazine

95
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.680
noted the public's growing affection for the Duchess, and royal

96
00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:17.639
commentator Ingrid Seward praised a teamwork oriented approach with Sophie.

97
00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:19.879
It's not all about her. She really gets that. It's

98
00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.199
about all of them working together as a team. Sophie

99
00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.600
and Prince edwould have developed a close working relationship with

100
00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:28.959
Prince William and Princess Catherine. Reports suggest the future king

101
00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.439
is eager for his aunt and uncle to take on

102
00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.439
more prominent roles when he ascends the throne, but Sophie

103
00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:37.839
isn't all about sticking to the playbook. A recent visit

104
00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:41.600
to Ukraine, which had government approval but reportedly faced resistance

105
00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.560
behind the scenes, highlighted her independent streak. That's what's told

106
00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.720
the Times. The government tried to stop her going to Ukraine,

107
00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.240
but she wasn't having any of it. This rebellious edge

108
00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:56.319
seems to define Sophie's royal approach. Despite adhering to tradition,

109
00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.240
she's unafraid to push boundaries, with plans to visit more

110
00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.879
conflict zone in the future, whether officials approve or not,

111
00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.480
and there you have it. Tack to email us that

112
00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.279
addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow

113
00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:10.399
us on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice,

114
00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.319
and you can find us now on YouTube and become

115
00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.439
a subscriber over there. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to

116
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:19.079
John McDermott. This is Palace Intriguing. Good terms.

Sophie Wessex turns 60

Listen On

Recent Episodes