The Duchess of Edinburgh has revealed what life is really like as a working member of the royal family in a rare interview.
Sophie, 61, joined Alaina MacGregor, the CEO of British Blind Sport, on their Golden Legacy Series podcast to discuss her patronages, the sight loss community, and the progress that has been made in disability sport. During the episode, which was released on Wednesday, Sophie spoke about how she supports King Charles in her role as a full-time working royal.
Sophie, who is married to Prince Edward, explained: “My role, as with all members of the family, is to primarily support the King and the monarchy. That is one side of the focus. But also, we’re lucky enough to be able to fulfil our passions and our interests and these over my time as a member of the royal family have developed.”
Sophie is the patron of more than 70 charities and organisations. Among these, she works with eye care charities across the UK, meeting blind and partially sighted people to provide the support needed to live a full and engaging life.
Talking more about her work, she added: “One of the things I’m doing now is on women’s peace and security in the world. We have the most incredible women who work within communities at all levels of society, and they are often at the frontline of ensuring that peace is secure, that their communities are looked after, and also we try to get them around the peacekeeping tables as much as possible. Aside from that, also the very sad problem the world is dealing with, the issue of conflict-related sexual violence.”
The Duchess has recently visited countries such as Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and, most recently, paid a visit to Kenya and Somalia last week at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
“So I spend quite a lot of time going to difficult countries, trying to highlight the work that is going on there, some of the problems they are facing and also trying to highlight some of the good practice that exists out there,” Sophie continued. “Also, global blindness, the world of disability, and food security as well.”
In both the UK and abroad, Sophie often visits schools, hospitals, charities and community groups to meet and engage with communities first-hand.
© Getty ImagesA historic visit
Sophie paid a visit to Northern Ireland on Tuesday for her first visit to the region in eight years. While there, she met representatives from Guide Dogs for the Blind to celebrate 40 years of the organisation, and fawned over puppy-in-training Luna.
During her one-day trip, the Duchess also visited a new specialist autism centre in Randalstown, Co Antrim, before attending a Women in Leadership event at the town’s library.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesIt’s a busy week for the Duchess, who also held a meeting at St James’s Palace on Wednesday in her role as patron of the Royal Mencap Society. Meanwhile, on Thursday, she is set to attend a DEBRA Taskforce event at Hever Castle, before visiting the Glasshouse Project at HM Prison at East Sutton Park.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are parents to Lady Louise Windsor, 22, and James, Earl of Wessex, 18.
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