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Meghan Markle might’ve found a kindred spirit in her plight of joining the Royal Family, following reports that a fellow Duchess also struggled to position herself among the Windsors.
Those reports come courtesy of royal expert Jennie Bond, who revealed that Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh — the wife of King Charles’ sibling, Prince Edward — has worked diligently to establish a role for herself with the Royal Family over the course of their 25-year marriage. Bond said Sophie, who worked in public relations prior to meeting and wedding the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth, faced challenges during her transition into the Windsor family. “I don’t think it was seamless or effortless for her to become part of this rather exclusive and extraordinary family.”
While Bond claimed that Sophie benefitted from her and Edward’s “long courtship” — which allowed her “a chance to see what life was going to be like” as a royal and saw her become “the first of the royal girlfriends” to stay at Buckingham Palace — she nonetheless empathized with the Duchess’ struggle. “To become part of this strange family and strange way of life and a restrictive way of life for a modern young woman, I think was very hard,” Bond said.
Bond went on to claim that while the late Queen would eventually regard Sophie as a “second daughter in the end,” that harmonious relationship wasn’t always present. In the early years of her relationship with Edward, Bond said the Queen found Sophie “rather shy,” claiming that the monarch said “you wouldn’t notice her amongst a group of people in a room.” Of course, that was likely because Sophie, “quite understandably, was pretty damn nervous about meeting a potential mother-in-law who was the Queen,” Bond said.
“I don’t think we should underestimate how difficult it probably was for a young woman.” While the overall transition would’ve been difficult for anyone (just ask Markle), Bond said Sophie also faced challenges in the more minute details of being a royal, like how to present oneself and the staff needed for everyday activities. “She’s very unfussy,” Bond said of the Duchess. “She drives herself sometimes to engagements, does her own hair and makeup which some of the others don’t do.”
Thankfully, however, Sophie’s initial struggles didn’t result in a ‘Megxit’-like departure from the palace, with Bond revealing that the Duchess has since settled into her place within the Royal Family. “She grew into the role over the years and has become a very, very central part and a senior member of the Royal Family,” she claimed.
Of course, the same cannot be said for the Duchess of Sussex, whose whirlwind transition into life as a Windsor was marred by widespread public scrutiny, a bombshell interview with Oprah, allegations of racism within the palace, and an eventual withdrawal from royal duties from herself and Prince Harry.
Just this year, Markle has been the subject of reports of a fractured relationship with Prince William, his wife Kate Middleton, and King Charles, the latter of whom was said to have had some thoughts about her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Sophie, meanwhile, is being celebrated by the Windsors for her 60th birthday, with the Royal Family’s official Instagram account recently sending well-wishes to the Duchess with a tribute post.