\nSophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has spoken about the emotional significance of inheriting a title once held by her late mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II. Reflecting on becoming the Duchess of Edinburgh in 2023, she said it felt like \u201cquite a big moment\u201d and acknowledged there were \u201clarge shoes to fill.\u201d By: Express Syndication \/ MEGA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Over the years, the queen increasingly relied on Sophie for support, according to royal writer and commentator Katie Nicholl<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cSophie had a wonderful relationship with the queen, and she never saw it as a chore,\u201d Nicholl told OK!<\/em>. \u201cShe was very willing to step up and provide support when needed, and she did it with quiet enthusiasm, and always with a cheerful smile. I think in return, Elizabeth learned not just to rely on Sophie, but to trust her implicitly.\u201d<\/p>\nSophie was racked with grief following her mother-in-law\u2019s death nearly four years ago. She was seen in tears while reading tributes left outside Scotland\u2019s Balmoral Castle \u2014 where the monarch died \u2014 and again as she and Edward watched their children, James, Earl of Wessex<\/strong>, and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor<\/strong>, stand vigil beside the queen\u2019s coffin at Westminster Hall.<\/p>\nShared interests and quiet moments<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\nPrince Edward is the only child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip whose marriage has not ended in divorce. He and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, married in 1999. By: James Whatling \/ MEGA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Part of the pair\u2019s connection stemmed from their shared interests.<\/p>\n
According to OK!<\/em>, they frequently watched old war films and documentaries together at Windsor Castle and spent time exploring the castle archives.<\/p>\n\u201cThey had a real love of military history in common,\u201d Seward explained. \u201cSophie apparently once went to the First World War battlefields and museums of northern France, which obviously the queen wasn\u2019t able to do. So Sophie rang her from there to tell her about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The duchess was also reportedly responsible for introducing the queen to Netflix\u2019s royal drama The Crown<\/em>.<\/p>\nAccording to a courtier quoted by OK!<\/em>, \u201cIt was only when Sophie mentioned that everyone seemed to be talking about it \u2014 and why didn\u2019t they give it a try \u2014 that the queen agreed for it to be shown at Windsor Castle one weekend.\u201d<\/p>\nThe source added that Elizabeth, Edward and Sophie watched the series together, \u201cthough the queen kept interrupting to point out when things were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The monarch also reportedly enjoyed Sophie\u2019s company during private family gatherings, often inviting her to travel by car to church services on her private Sandringham estate or at Balmoral because she found her presence \u201csoothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip was a fan, too<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\nPrince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, share two children: James, Earl of Wessex, 18, and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, 22. By: MEGA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Sophie didn\u2019t just win over the queen \u2014 she also developed a close relationship with her father-in-law, Prince Philip<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cI think she really appreciated that Sophie made such a big effort with Philip, especially with her interest in carriage driving,\u201d Seward told OK!<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe Duchess of Edinburgh has long shared Philip\u2019s passion for carriage driving, a hobby that was later embraced by her daughter, Lady Louise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s lovely the way that one of the late Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s big traditions has continued on through Sophie and Louise, and that they shared that connection,\u201d Nicholl said. \u201cI think Philip also liked the fact Sophie was never loud or brash. There was a mutual respect between them.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Nicholl, \u201cFor all her glamour, Sophie is a bit of a country girl at heart. She\u2019s very happy up at Balmoral, makeup-free, in the drizzle and wind with all the midges. She has never been precious in any way and I think the queen and Philip both found that appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip and Sophie also bonded over cooking. In the 2021 BBC documentary Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers<\/em>, Sophie said, \u201cCooking is something I love talking to him about. And he loves watching cookery programs. [The] Hairy Bikers\u201d \u2014 English celebrity chefs Dave Myers<\/strong> and Si King<\/strong>, whose TV shows combined cooking with motorcycling travelogues \u2014 \u201cI think is one of his favorites,\u201d Sophie said.<\/p>\nA bond that lasted until the end<\/h2>\n Seward said the queen welcomed Sophie into the royal fold early in her relationship with Edward and was supportive in difficult moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she saw in Sophie a very sensible young woman, and she was quick to welcome her into the inner circle,\u201d Nicholl further told OK!<\/em>. \u201cSophie knew her place in the hierarchy of The Firm and never caused any problems. Even in the early days, when there was a bit of drama surrounding her, the queen stood by her.\u201d<\/p>\nNicholl is likely referring to how just weeks before her 1999 royal wedding to Edward, then-Sophie Rhys-Jones faced a scandal when a former friend and colleague sold racy photos of her that were snapped while she was on vacation to British tabloid The Sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt could have been a nail in the coffin for her as a royal bride, but the queen was very sympathetic. She was always so fond of Sophie, and that characterized their relationship for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth II spent decades carefully guarding her private thoughts, rarely revealing favorites within her complicated family. But according to royal experts, one member of The Firm quietly earned a place closer to the late monarch\u2019s heart than almost anyone else. The surprise favorite wasn\u2019t a future king or queen or even one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2442584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[357590,351224,369199,37258,22982,24085,353691],"class_list":["post-2442583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-duchess-of-edinburgh","tag-ingrid-seward","tag-katie-nicholl","tag-prince-edward","tag-prince-philip","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-windsor-castle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Queen-Elizabeths-surprise-favorite-royal-revealed.com2Fen2Faol_wonderwall_7342Fb50bb85f3369d74a5e3fef729cf6fed0.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442583"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2442585,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442583\/revisions\/2442585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2442584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}