Duchess Sophie leaves the country amid Prince Edward pulling out of major event

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh has undertaken a major overseas engagement as the Royal Family continues to contend with the fallout from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has left the UK for a major overseas engagement on behalf of the Foreign Office, as the Royal Family continues to contend with the fallout from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last week.

Sophie has completed a two-day trip to the African country of Somalia to mark International Women’s Day. The Duchess paid an emotional visit to the capital Mogadishu to promote two topics close to her heart – the role of women in peacebuilding in former war zones and ensuring accountability for sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. During the trip, Sophie met female survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, listening to the stories of those who were subjected to sickening acts by terror group al-Shabaab.

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She also heard about the dangers posed by the group from the wives of Somali soldiers, whose husbands are away fighting in a small village. In one of the most emotional parts of her visit, Sophie visited a hospital in Mogadishu who are offering UK-funded sexual and reproductive health services to women.

There she heard the terrible impact of female genital mutilation, rape and sexual assault on Somali women. In a previous rare interview with the Mirror, Sophie admitted her hard-hitting work highlighting the plight of women involved in sexual violence is “not an easy subject matter” and that it does take its toll emotionally.

Sophie departed Somalia after her two-day trip on Tuesday to continue her regional tour. The Duchess of Edinburgh’s overseas engagement comes after her husband, Prince Edward, pulled out of a major event this afternoon.

The Duke of Edinburgh had been due to join his brother, sister Princess Anne and sister-in-law Queen Camilla at St James’ Palace as Charles presented the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education.

However, he was unable to attend as he pulled out at the last minute after coming down with a cold, it is understood. His last engagements took him to Italy, where he attended several events at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, including the snowboarding competition on the slopes, where Team GB had several medal hopes.

Today’s event at St James’ Palace, which Edward was due to attend, was the largest gathering of royals since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last Thursday, with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester also attending the awards ceremony. Mingling with around 200 guests at the awards reception, Charles, Camilla, and Anne appeared relaxed following a turbulent few days for the monarchy.

Meanwhile, plans to boot Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor out of the line of succession ramped up today with New Zealand becoming the latest Commonwealth country to say it will support a UK government move to remove the former prince from being eighth in line to the throne.

Last week, government sources suggested it would begin consultation to change the line of succession after the conclusion of multiple police investigations into allegations surrounding Andrew’s conduct.

He can only be axed from the line of succession by an Act of Parliament after agreement with the 14 British realms, which has the King as head of state.

On Monday, Australia became the first country to say it would back the move and now a spokesperson for New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon said he would also throw his weight behind the proposal.

They said: “If the UK Government proposes to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the order of succession, New Zealand would support it. The UK Government has said any proposals would come after the police investigation concludes.”