Nearly 28 years ago, the British royal family gathered at Princess Diana‘s funeral. While Sophie Rhys-Jones was dating Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip‘s son Prince Edward at the time, she was not at the service held at Westminster Abbey on Sept. 6, 1997. A new biography by Sean Smith titled Sophie: Saving the Royal Family claims that King Charles‘ now-sister-in-law, the Duchess of Edinburgh, was not in attendance because she thought it would be “too upsetting for the crowd” due to her resemblance to the late Princess.
“She had an obvious and reasonable excuse: a friend at the Palace explained, ‘Sophie decided it would be too upsetting for the crowd if she went,'” Smith wrote in the book, according to the Daily Mail. “She’s well aware that she looks like Princess Diana from a distance and made her decision in a caring and thoughtful way. The Royal Family fully supported.”
Sophie has reportedly acknowledged the resemblance between herself and Diana in the past. Per Sky News Australia, Sophie told the Daily Mail in the 90s, “I don’t deny that we do look alike. But I couldn’t ever compete with Diana’s image. I’m not Diana.”
© Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images/ Ken Goff/Getty ImagesThe royal family’s website notes that Sophie met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s youngest child Edward in the summer of 1993 at a Real Tennis event. Less than two years after Diana’s funeral, Sophie and Edward announced their engagement in January of 1999. Asked how she felt about joining the royal family at the time, Sophie admitted: “It is slightly nerve-wracking in many ways but I am ready for it now.” The couple went on to tie the knot at St. George’s Chapel on June 19, 1999.
Upon her marriage, Sophie became the Countess of Wessex. On her husband’s 59th birthday in 2023, it was announced King Charles had conferred the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon his youngest brother, with Sophie becoming the Duchess of Edinburgh. The Duke and Duchess have two children: Lady Louise, 21, and the Earl of Wessex, 17.
© OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty ImagesSophie has been called the royal family’s “secret weapon,” a label she spoke about during an interview with the Mirror, published in July 2025. “I like to fly under the radar. It’s all very well being a secret weapon but if no one knows, maybe it’s too secret,” the Duchess told the Mirror.
She then added, “I suppose I should take it as a backhanded compliment. I don’t see myself in a frontline position per se, that said admittedly there are fewer working members of the family these days so I suppose more and more I’m becoming less secretive. I just wonder what they are going to describe me as next!”
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