At the beginning of this year, the British royal
family found themselves in the spotlight due to health issues affecting two important members.
Firstly, Kate, who has always been radiant, suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized for
abdominal surgery. Although the specifics of the surgery were not disclosed, the news of her
two-week hospitalization and the need for over two months of rest after the procedure highlighted the
seriousness of the situation. Before people could fully process this news, the British royal
family announced, just over an hour later, that King Charles needed to be hospitalized
for prostate surgery. While King Charles was discharged quickly, it was later revealed that he
had been diagnosed with cancer during the surgery. Following this, Prince Harry, who was across the
ocean, promptly returned to the UK to visit his father. The media erupted with speculation,
and netizens expressed their concerns. Prince William has canceled numerous scheduled royal engagements to take care of Kate
and their three children. As a result, royal duties have fallen onto the shoulders
of three female members of the royal family. They are Queen Camilla, Princess Anne,
and the Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie. Speaking of the Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, many
may be unfamiliar with her as she is indeed one of the most low-key members among the core members
of the British royal family. She is the youngest daughter-in-law of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
She and Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest son, are the only original married couple among
the Queen's children who have not divorced. Whenever the 59-year-old Sophie appears in
public, she always exudes a sense of stability and reliability, giving the impression of being
unassuming and non-confrontational. It might lead people to assume that her life after marrying
into the royal family has been tranquil. However, as everyone knows, marrying into the British royal
family has never been "easy" for any outsider. Sophie was born on January 20, 1965,
in the countryside of Kent, England, into a middle-class family. Her father was a
sales director at a rubber import-export company, while her mother worked as an administrative
secretary. They provided Sophie and her brother with a comfortable and stable upbringing. Sophie
attended private schools from elementary through high school, and afterward, she enrolled in
a secretarial program at Kent College. After graduating, Sophie, who excelled in sports,
worked as a ski instructor in Switzerland for a period and also spent time living
in Australia. Upon returning to the UK, Sophie began her career in public
relations at a company in London. In 1993, during a tennis event, Sophie posed
for a photo with Prince Edward representing her company. After the event, the prince and she
engaged in a pleasant conversation. Prince Edward, who was working at a television
production company at the time, found many common interests with Sophie, and
their romantic relationship quickly blossomed. As the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince
Edward has always been the most easily overlooked among his siblings. He struggled academically
as a child and did not serve in the military like his two older brothers. Instead,
he focused on working in the television industry but didn't achieve much success.
Now, with Edward in a stable relationship, the media couldn't help but shine the
spotlight on him. This was because by 1993, Prince Charles's marriage to Princess Diana was
falling apart, and Prince Andrew had announced his separation. Edward's girlfriend suddenly became
the only remaining Cinderella for the media to chase after. Dealing with the relentless
British media is no easy task, and Sophie, as a seasoned public relations professional,
initially thought she could handle it with ease. Little did she know that the journey
to becoming a princess was just beginning. Firstly, Sophie's short hair and confident
demeanor bore some resemblance to Diana, Princess of Wales, leading to criticism that she
was deliberately imitating her. Additionally, due to differences in height and significant
variations in their fashion choices, Sophie was portrayed negatively in the media as someone
trying to imitate Diana but failing. Consequently, she had to tread carefully to avoid any fashion
clashes with Diana. Fortunately, Sophie had a successful career, which the media couldn't fault.
After meeting Edward, Sophie not only didn't give up her career but also established her own public
relations company in 1996. Their relationship with Edward was steady and gradual, with the engagement
announced only after five years of courtship. However, just before their wedding in 1999,
the media stirred up trouble again. The front page of The Sun newspaper published semi-nude
photos of Sophie taken in Spain years earlier, shocking the entire United Kingdom. After
strong condemnation from the royal family, The Sun issued a public apology on a large scale.
However, for Sophie, the damage had already been done, and it was irreversible. Especially when
she learned that the source of the photos was a former colleague she had worked with, one
can only imagine how she felt. Nevertheless, she still had to adjust her mindset
and prepare for the impending wedding. By royal standards, Prince Edward
and Sophie's wedding at Windsor Castle was not grand in scale. After
their marriage, they did not receive titles like Duke and Duchess of York as
Prince Andrew and Sarah did. Instead, they became the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Both of them were well aware of their status on the royal family's sidelines. The couple also
intended not to become full-time royal members but to continue pursuing their respective careers.
Despite this, the media continued to hound them. Just two years after their wedding,
Sophie once again experienced hardship. As Sophie's company expanded its operations,
reporters from The World News posed as Arab clients of her public relations firm
to discuss business. They managed to extract a lot of information from Sophie,
recording the conversation in the process. Similar eavesdropping incidents had occurred
numerous times in the British Royal Family before. It can only be said that despite Sophie's
extensive work experience and life experience, she couldn't escape the trap and paid the
price for her recklessness. In the recording, Sophie mocked the then British
Prime Minister and his spouse, made jokes about the relationship between Charles
and Camilla, and, most damningly, mentioned that the identities of royal family members had
facilitated her company's business dealings. After the recording was made public, Sophie was
caught off guard and dared not make any public response. Fortunately, as her mother-in-law
and the only daughter-in-law at the time, Queen Elizabeth II was extremely protective
of Sophie. She instructed the royal family to issue a statement declaring the contents of the
recording unreliable and condemning the media's lack of ethics. Following this incident, Sophie
learned her lesson. She immediately shut down her public relations firm and resolved to become
a full-time member of the royal family. She began accompanying Prince Edward to attend some royal
engagements. Of course, at that time, she had a more important task than official duties,
which was to nurture her own little family. Unfortunately, Sophie also lacked a bit of
luck in the aspect of childbirth. In 2002, she was rushed to the hospital for an ectopic
pregnancy, hanging by a thread of life. In 2003, she gave birth prematurely at eight months
gestation and suffered from placental abruption, putting her life in jeopardy once again. Her
newborn daughter Louise's condition was also extremely precarious, but thankfully, they both
made it through safely in the end. However, Louise faced the risk of blindness due
to strabismus caused by prematurity. Louise's strabismus was eventually
corrected through two surgeries. In 2007, at the age of 42, Sophie gathered her
courage and gave birth to her second child, James. This time, everything went smoothly, and
James became the youngest of Queen Elizabeth II's grandchildren. As the children grew up, Sophie
began taking on more and more royal duties, actively participating in numerous charitable
endeavors supported by the royal family. She also dedicated herself to the cause of
preventing childhood blindness. Today, according to official statistics,
Sophie is required to attend over 200 engagements annually, making her
a model member of the royal family. After the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, King
Charles, despite his efforts to streamline the royal family, understood the significance
of Prince Edward and Sophie. Not only did he confer upon them the titles of Duke
and Duchess of Edinburgh, but he also encouraged their increased involvement in royal
affairs. Sophie's journey has not been easy, but she has finally earned a rewarding life as a
princess through her resilience and dedication.
