How A Commoner Became A Countess | Prince Edward & Sophie Rhys-Jones | Real Royalty

in January 1999 Prince Edward announced his engagement to Sophie Rhys Jones she will be the last royal bride of the century and the Millennium she's often compared to Diana Princess of Wales who was 19 at her engagement in 1981 a shy kindergarten assistant Diana had little experience of publicity or of the family she would enter for 34 year old Sophie things are different she has served a five-year apprenticeship with the family firm Dianna's marriage seemed a glittering fairytale but it ended in divorce and tragedy Sophie will avoid Diana's mistakes the best thing Sophie can do for herself is to establish her own identity and step out of Diana's shadow Sophie has already taken the initiative in dealing with speculation about her personal life contrary to popular opinion we've never lived together and I've never issued any ultimatums Edwards delay in making Sophie his bride had caused rumors of a split he had Charles and Diana's divorce he had Fergie and Andrews divorce and he had the sad death of Diana if he got married to Sophie at any time in the past few years it would mean as the good news the royal family desperately needed he didn't want that it was too much pressure Edward wanted Sophie to have a slower and smoother passage into royal life than Diana or Fergie the Duchess of York at first he was concerned that the media would spoil his relationship with this very special girlfriend to protect Sophie from press intrusion he took the unusual step of making a direct appeal to newspaper editors the press were hounding her certainly were hounding her and Edward put out a fax from Buckingham Palace asking them to lay off I don't think he was scared of losing I'm pretty sure that wouldn't happen I think he's just he is genuinely concerned about that sort of behavior and he didn't see he didn't think it was fair especially as though as they weren't even engaged Edwards romance was revealed in December 1993 after Diana temporarily withdrew from public life in this speech she blamed the media for her problems when I started my public life 12 years ago I understood the media might be interested in what I did I realized then their attention would inevitably focus on both our private and public lives but I was not aware of how overwhelming that attention would become as the separated wife of the Prince of Wales Diana's role with the media as with the royal family was uncertain but with the public she was still the greatest star in the theatre of royalty at first Sophie unwisely chose styles reminiscent of Diana's but she never achieved the same charismatic effect in 1994 Sophie joined Edward and his family for the wedding of Princess Margaret's daughter Sarah armstrong-jones waiting for Sarah the royal family drew the crowds cheers but they knew that Diana's presence would upstage the bride I think it was a very difficult time for the Princess of Wales she knew that people were looking at her for the right reasons and for the wrong reasons and in a sense at weddings particularly anything she did could be interpreted however you'd like to look at it if she came in late people would say oh she wants to steal the bride's thunder she came in early people would stay where she wants to steal the bride's thunder I think she was in an almost untenable position because it is true that wherever she went and however she went the camera the people they couldn't take their eyes off for her Diana wanted attention to focus on the bride and her attendance including Princess Anne's daughter Zara Sarah the Queen's only niece had been one of Diana's friends in the royal family and she had no wish to ruin her big day [Applause] but Diana and her look-alike Sophie were bound to attract comment if Sophie's smart she will absorb what happened to Diana and work out her own look diana decided towards the end that the clean pared-down very simple chic line was best for her it certainly photographed very well but you know she mustn't be seen to be copying Diana too because that would be disastrous Sara's wedding was Sophie's first royal event although she had often joined Edwards firmly at church a privilege not accorded her predecessors Diana took a close interest in Sophie's royal progress her self-sufficiency enabled her to cope under pressure a public relations executive she could deal easily with questions about the stories in the papers this morning Sophie's work especially for a London radio station had meant frequent contact with the media somehow she balanced the dual role I thinks everybody students is coping brilliantly with all the attention I mean she is a PR woman herself so she knows exactly I think the right distance to keep from people which is important she has shown immense professional dignity immense professional determination and I think a rather engaging quiet charm that is now her own I mean she seems to have found herself and found her confidence and and seems comfortable with it all she knows her place now it's it's there and she's happy about that Sophie grew up in brenchley a quiet village in rural Kent and seemed set for a typical middle-class life she and her brother David lived in a comfortable rather than ostentatious home security and stability were key values to their parents Christopher and Mary Rhys Jones well I would call her country middle-class her parents are not rich but they believe that education is a better indicator of class than money so they were prepared to spend the money they do they did have and do have on a good education for Sophie she went to a private school in Kent she very much had a village middle-class upbringing she gained eight Oh levels at school but Sophie was an unexceptional pupil in a class that included a future Olympic swimmer sophie was a good mixer she liked the theater and sport a foretaste of the interest she would share with her prince in 1977 the Queen's silver jubilee year Sophie played netball for her school she grew up into an attractive young woman with no shortage of male admirers she is an extremely popular girl she's a sport she's great sports she'll take part in any sort of game really fun loving out outdoor girl once on a capital radio trip a chap called Marino Franchi it was nobody at that time broke into her bedroom went into the room she was sharing with another girl and nicked a pair of her knickers and that night at a concert they appeared on stage addressed and they stripped down until safety realized they were wearing her knickers and started screaming you dirty blah blah blah and running all the way back to hotel but she found it very amusing compared with Fergie's excesses stories like this seem tame Sophie avoided real scandals after a-levels she worked in London then in Switzerland as the ski rep she later accompanied a boyfriend to his native Australia when they broke up she dated Australian Yann Balmain for several months [Music] she's 34 she's been around the block she's had a couple of flings only a couple of serious love affairs the Australian ski instructor was the most serious I think she followed him back to Aussie but then it cooled down often when you fall in love and the snow slips it turns out yeah bit of a damp squib when you get home and she was prevented by a guy called Ian Bell main another Australian he sort of took on yachting trips I don't know how close that relationship was but he did come to England with her and offered to sell the story to one of the sunders have probably the news of the world but something made him change his mind I'm not quite sure what and he's never spoken a bad word about her after working briefly in Australia Sophie travelled with Ian and their friends visiting tourist areas like the Blue Mountain and the Great Barrier Reef she loved deep-sea diving and sailing however in 1991 this Dilek life came to an end I think she was hoping to get married and settle down in Ozzy and when everything went slightly wrong she started getting homesick the English girls want to come back to some more sophisticated people if we put it that way and she did immediately and she went to work for Brian Maclaurin where she really honed up on his skills and her popularity was fantastic she's pop very popular with all the clients public relations brought her into contact with the hard side of the media she learned to please the cameras as well as the client Sophie was skilled at organizing people and events in 1993 her boss Brian McLaren asked her to promote Prince Edward summer challenge held through the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme it was a complete accident every girl's dream how to meet a prince completely by fluke Sophie stood in for a celebrity who had had to back out of a photo shoot with Edward at the last minute she went along Edward liked what he saw and posed happily for pictures with Sophie later she started her own public relations company in London's Mayfair she is an independent accomplished young woman but it was her connection with Edward that made her famous hello magazine certainly wouldn't have run her story uncle Sophie if she hadn't been involved with Prince Edward it just so happened that there was a gap in the royal ranks for a young attractive woman and Sophie's filled it you know diana has disappeared now increasingly a solo royal Diana grew into a global icon she became an international celebrity fated around the world as here in Washington in 1990 as Diana's royal role was changing she found a new rival one who could look uncannily like her Sophie's dress by Thomas dashefsky bore a certain resemblance to Diana's red gown by Victor Edelstein so if his necklines and hairstyles were noted she was nicknamed the new Diana it's absolutely no danger whatsoever that Sophie's a new Diana a lot of people in Australia and America seem to think she is because she's filled the gap that's left by Diana but there's just no comparison between the two Sophie's shorter she's she hasn't got the wonderful peachy complexion that Diana had she's got quite a lot of freckles she's much more of a simple natural outdoor girl doesn't wear much makeup surprisingly for someone in her position and she's got quite a short torso so she doesn't show off clothes as well as Diana did she needs to dress more carefully diana was arguably at her most glamourous in her last year's as here in Argentina in 1995 she was ambivalent towards her style rival Sophie sometimes worrying about her prospects in the royal family but mostly deriding her imitation she's done too many things that I know used to irritate Diana she cut her hair like Diana's she even went to lose weight and keep fit at the Chelsea harbour Club which was Diana's you know famous fitness centre she's done you know chosen dresses the red dresses that were almost identical to things that died in a war the Blazer and the and the trousers that Diana wore she just seemed to be aping Diana and Diana was sort of partly amused and partly irritated by it she's to say her look here comes my double I mean even the designer she likes Thomas Starsky used to design for Diana she really ought to get her own look and there are plenty of things she could do she could dress in softer less tailored clothes just to find her own look and I think she even thinks that she can outsmart the media that way Diana tried to do well believe me you can't Diana was never reviled like Fergie over her occasional fashion lapses she is remembered for her unique allure and her incomparable magnetism Sophie may never be described like Fergie as a style free zone but not everyone approved of her engagement suit the engagement outfit she wore looked to me like something you wear at six o'clock in the evening not 11 o'clock in the morning partly because it had glittery beads all over it and that smacks of a cocktail are not no morning engagement the other problem with that outfit was that it was grey and standing next to a prince in a dark suit didn't exactly make them look a colorful pair if she'd been as clever as I think she is she would have worn something that was more colorful a pastel you know this spring we're told that lilac and blue and and Pinker of the big colors for spring she seemed to ignore all that and she wore grey which is a color which was in two years ago so you know I think Sophie has to study the fashion pages and the glasses a bit more carefully Sophie may take on royal appointment she already has experienced through her promotional work with the cancer Macmillan Relief Fund and other charities behind the scenes grooming has ensured that she already looks and speaks like a born royal I think they made it a lot of fun Debra Lee X Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and his family helped Sofie promote a children's fashion parade for the charity baby lifeline any smart royal who gets involved with the baby charity is doing themselves a power of good because it's much more difficult to get you know handicapped people mentally disabled people in in a newspaper or on television it's just a fact of life it's it's not politically correct but it happens to be a fact so you know you notice that Diana really became world famous for cuddling appealing little children so I think you know Sofie was was you know she's a PR girl she knows how the world works and I'm not saying that her motives of purely sort of to exploit that side of the of the baby charity but it certainly has not done her any harm [Music] mixing with celebrities was part of Sophie's work she has many showbiz friends just as Diana did but Sophie's predecessor had qualities that were so unique they can never be copied the handicapped or disadvantaged found a remarkable empathy in Diana an ordinary children everywhere were drawn in by her boundless affection but such charisma had its downside Diana could hardly go anywhere without a throng of cameramen recording her every movement tragically this media obsession contributed to her death [Music] now Sophie must find a way to cope with her own celebrity status [Music] seems like these will be frequently repeated now that she is the new royal star [Music] Sophie would look to Prince Edward for guidance and support in the early and testing years ahead [Music] [Applause] [Music] Sophie is no stranger to palaces she's a regular guest at Windsor Castle and at all the other royal residences the Queen riding at Windsor was Sophie took an instant liking to this uncomplicated friendly girl and gave her unprecedented access to the Royal homes she stayed many many times at Buckingham Palace she has her room in Edwards apartment he has his room exactly where they sleep is something I don't really know it would be a shame after being together for five years if they've never done the deed to the Royals sophie is diana without the dramas and Fergie without the frivolities but what does she think of her future in-laws I think Sophie's had plenty of time to decide what she doesn't doesn't like about the royal family we're talking about in five six years of living that life Diana had a much quicker introduction into the royal family the engagement and marriage was done and dusted within a relatively short time so she learnt about the life as she grew into it and she was also of course much younger than Sophie when she married diana was eighteen or nineteen not a particularly formed personality at that time Sophie's into her 30s and if she doesn't know what she does and doesn't like about the royal family now then she's never going to know as Sophie's future mother-in-law the Queen has effortlessly formed a close friendship with her son's wife to be she's told friends sophie has made me smile again the Royal Family's problems have undoubtedly bonded Edward and Sophie together they've spent several years after all under the same roof they have experienced the strains of that and the enormous emotional turmoil of the royal family a hideous time in the last 10 years for them they've seen the damage they've watched the hurt they've seen the the sort of disadvantages of being royal which which a legion I would have thought and I think that both of them have found something in each other at least I hope they're I'm sure they have that will sustain them as a couple in the future Elizabeth had been queen for 12 years by the time Edward was born in 1964 now there was a mix of teenagers and toddlers at the palace Charles was 15 and 13 their brother Andrew was 4 this time round the Queen made more time for her younger children she cherished her second family and doted on her last son whose childhood marked a period of great stability for the royal family [Music] his grandmother seemed an eternally warm and welcoming presence in their lives in Scotland they broke off their journey to greet her before spending their annual summer holiday at Balmoral on weekends away from boarding school there were walks through the grounds of Frogmore at windsor one of several royal houses edward grew up in a highly privileged environment that inevitably separated him from the real world you're the queen's youngest son so like many youngest sons edward was pampered privileged so he was always very prone as a youngster to being rather arrogant and pompous I don't particularly blame him for that because I think it comes with the territory I think people tend to lose sight of that that they judge members of the royal family by everyday life and they don't live in everyday life they live a life where you have a I mean Edward still has a valet who brings him a biscuit at the hotbar six and a cup of tea in the morning I mean that's how they live they have nannies until they're sort of 70 it's very much a world that that we don't appreciate Andrew and Edward still a Gordon Stern school boy acted as supporters when Charles married in 1981 no one could guess the turbulence that lay ahead the royal family were unknowingly facing a private revolution within a few years their world that had seemed so secure would fall apart with devastating consequences in 1983 during their Commonwealth tour Charles and Diana met Edward in New Zealand where he spent a year teaching before going to Cambridge and the fun of student life [Applause] [Music] [Music] when Andrew married in 1986 Edward had graduated and joined the Royal Marines Andrews bride Sarah Ferguson would bring drama and fasten to the royal family and Edward would soon leave the Marines for a theatrical career I don't think I would ever wanted to be a marine traditionally there is a tradition that the princesses go into the services and so he had to follow his brothers by doing the same sort of thing and his father it just is a natural thing for the royal family to do it's just tradition I'm sure he would have been far happier becoming an actor and going to Rada he once told a female journalist she asked him if you'd have the chance would you become an actor and he said yes I would like Charles Edward had begun acting at school and continued as a student the cambridge reviews provided the slapstick comic roles that he preferred the dressing up and excitement of stage production took hold the appeal of acting the theater showbiz in general all comes from the way the royal family lived they they are surrounded by people who dress up in funny costumes they like to dress up they like to play party games where you dress up an act roles it's one of the traditions of family holidays at Sandringham Balmoral the royal family they're heroes and heroines are movie people but you know they say a star struck as anybody else DiCaprio arrives or Michael Caine and you know they really have the because they could nobody else to look up to so that there really are I think that's part partly but I think he just is arty like some people aren't some people aren't in 1987 Andrew and Fergie took part in its a Royal knock out a game show in fancy dress organised by Edward the day that he was filming it's a knockout it was a horrible day the weather was foul the media of sat drenched in the rain all day long so at the end of the day when he came in for a press conference with everybody and he said don't you think that was wonderful I also well no not really we didn't very much they'd had hardly any access they certainly weren't allowed to get any pictures because Edward had done an exclusive deal and they're all thoroughly fed up I only hope that you've enjoyed yourselves have you well thanks for sounding so bloody enthusiastic what have you been doing in here all day have you been watching it [Laughter] he took this as a terrible personal criticism and I remember one reporter filing the story that he flounced out of the press conference like a ballerina with a ladder in her tights and he was just not prepared to see the other side of the story you couldn't see that this huddled massive wet reporters and photographers were just you know thoroughly fed up and wanted to go home édouard started working for the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber at a London theater on the first day the press waited for Edward Windsor as he now called himself on cue the prince jokingly indicated his lowly role as a production assistant by carrying teabags later Edward left the theatre and formed his own television company ardent productions while he moved in theatrical circles gossip about his private life became a source of annoyance it all started in fact form Edwards saying I'm not gay and with the classic newspaper trick the headline on the front page was Edwards says I'm not gay the whole world had no idea whether he was gay or not before he said that it's and since then it's been open season on discussing his sexuality I just think people should forget about it he likes the company of gay people he's possibly so convinced of his own heterosexuality doesn't bother him he gets on extremely well with gays he gets on extremly world and all the theatrical set but it really bothered Sophie that he was a lot of people said he was gay and she said to a close friend he is definitely not gay I can guarantee that sir take it from there Edwards main sporting interest is real tennis a cross between lawn tennis and squash which he took up after sustaining too many injuries on the rugby field he said with real tennis I could belt the ball as hard as possible and it would come back into course off the back wall perfect for a Slugger like me real tennis had some majestic fans notably King Henry the eighth but what of his romantic life princess märtha louise of norway was just one of Edwards girlfriends along the way but perhaps it was a shared love of sport that was to be the deciding factor it was Sophie who eventually won his heart at a real tennis match he found that her confidence and professionalism helped her cope with the publicity surrounding their romance I think when he was younger he and the girls involved did find the press attention particularly difficult and this is why I think he he and Sophie have done so well being that little bit older and a little bit wiser they've been able to compromise where necessary and get along quite well with the public attention they've done very well on that sphere it's hard to say whether being a PR girl helped Sophie become a princess or not it certainly made a fairly astute and I think that Edward appreciated that she knew the ropes it wasn't like plucking an ordinary girl out of obscurity Sophie already was familiar with the way the media works and she's mentioned in interviews that she knows all their tricks so in that sense it's helped her and it's probably helped Edwards [Music] the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia in November 1997 was a nostalgic event for the Queen and the royal family Sophie's presents that the emotional ceremony was another clue to her acceptance within the Royal fold she makes every effort to fit in so if he goes out riding with the Queen so she she really was a pretty hopeless ride and she's still not very good and she said she's got an electric bottom which means that when she gets on a horse it takes off at great rate of knots which of course the rest of the Royals think is hilarious but Sophie tries she doesn't mind making a fool of herself getting a hair out of place her makeup askew she's very much in the tradition of what the Queen likes the royal family disliked the way Diana always stole the show with her clothes and conduct distracting attention at solemn events like VJ day in 1994 I'm pretty certain that the royal family look on Sophie as a very good substitute for Diana because she's the sort of substitute that suits them she's not as high-profile as Diana never will be she's not as gorgeous as Diana she's the sort of person they wish Diana had been a girl who knows her place and doesn't try to dazzle the rest of them they'll never really have any serious problems with with Sophie she's in it for the long term royal reaction to Diana's death caused a crisis Sophie was absent from the Royal group at her funeral she may be close to the royal family but obviously was not considered to be part of a state event the tragedy altered royal plans I'm convinced that the engagement would have been announced much sooner if it hadn't been for first of all the divorce of Diana and Charles and then a year later the the funeral of Diana it certainly meant that the royal family felt it would have been distasteful to rush out happy news of an engagement they would have felt that with all the bad publicity they'd had the public would have been suspicious just that they were trying to bury Diana metaphorically as well as physically and and move on and try and say well doesn't matter about her we've got this other news to divert you now a year after her death a memorial service was held for Diana there had been criticism over the Royals slow reaction to Diana's death now they were keen to avoid controversy the Queen led her family including Sophie into Balmoral little church where they had worshiped for many years in December 1992 the divorce Princess Anne had married her second husband commander Tim Lawrence at Crotty search that low-key ceremony was the last wedding of any of the Queen's children before Edwards at Windsor this summer the Queen is going to have of course an extraordinary experience at that wedding she's going to look round her children and she's going to see two of them divorced both her sons and she's going to see her daughter divorced and remarried and she's going to be praying praying please God let it work this time on the way to Diana's memorial service Princess Anne Edward and Sophie traveled with Prince William she was now a family member in all but name Sophie's links with various charities provided an acceptable introduction to the public life that she may be taking on as older members of the royal family retire from public life but we'll Sophie's ordinary background be enough to sustain her move into regal circles there is just one other royal wife with a middle-class background the Danish born Duchess of Gloucester formally begin Evander's a secretary since she married the Queen's cousin in 1972 where Geeta has blended seamlessly into her husband's family today no one would suspect that she wasn't born into royal life if Sophie's as smart as I think she is she will probably model herself on the Duchess of Gloucester who's doesn't give interviews it's always kept a low profile knows her place doesn't rock the boat and dance certainly doesn't try to look more glamorous or more appealing than the Rowett royal ladies who are more senior to her I think it's very difficult to predict what Sophie Dutchess of wherever would be like as opposed to this nice girl from the Home Counties that we've got at the moment sometimes put in a coronet on somebody does wonders sometimes it's a disaster and sometimes you hardly notice frankly I think Sophie is quite likely to be the invisible Duchess with or without her coronet in 1996 Edward took a 50-year lease on back shot Park in Surrey he and Sophie will make it their country home the mansion set in 88 acres will also be the base for ardent productions his television company the house was originally built for Edwards royal ancestor the Duke of Connaught Queen Victoria's favorite son how different is the new owner all the men of the royal family are quite self-centered an arrogant they can't help but it's the way they brought up I mean if you grow up with people bowing and scraping to you and deferring to you and you have a bodyguard and you're always different from your friends at school how can you help but be a little bit you know think yourself anywhere a little bit special because you are special you're not ordinary ordinary and so the wife of a man like that the wife of a prince has to take that on board and there's two ways she can go she can deflate the inflated ego and stop a prince becoming too pompous and if he's a sort of reasonable man he will won't mind too much and the other route you can take is to be totally subservient you know and rather do what Camilla parker-bowles has done with Prince Charles and be happy to be just a supporting player and prop the man up when he needs it I think with Sophie and Edward it's much more equal partnership I think Edward defers to her a lot and relies on her a lot because she has had much more contact with the real world than he's had he's a privileged Prince and I think that's the one great reason why this this marriage will work all the other royal marriages were a marriage of unequals but this time I think they're much more evenly matched Edwards wife will be the new focus of high society I'm sure she'll enjoy being the Duchess she has always had hankering for social position friends who've known her for many years have told me this I don't mean that in a nasty way I just think that's something she enjoys I'm sure she'll have great fun being a society hostess down there but I think she'd go mad if she was there all the time she's worked until into her mid-30s she has a very successful career and I'd be amazed if she wanted to give it up this is this is very interesting especially the question of whether whether Saffy and Edward are going to have children I mean her biological clock is ticking on so they've got to get around to it fairly soon but I've got the feeling that he wants to wants her to continue with her business because at the moment it's making more than he he is Lady Helen Windsor was the last royal bride to marry at st. George's Chapel in July 1992 as her own marriage came under scrutiny Diana joined the royal family in this return to an earlier tradition of private weddings [Music] st. George's Chapel Windsor had once been the setting for royal weddings before the more public and splendid ceremonies became national events with the breakup of that marriage the whole idea of the royal family as a monument of national virtue as the Ark of the Covenant of family values was destroyed and I think what we're seeing and what I hope we're seeing with the marriage of Edward and Sophie is a retreat to something more modest something less pretentious something more if it's not a paradox a sort of private royal family or at least one in which you don't parade family values for her wedding to Tim Taylor Helen the daughter of the Duke of Kent the Queen's cousin chose a very formal gown made of heavy silk with a regal neckline it was especially created for Helen by Katherine Walker one of Diana's favorite designers the next bride to walk down these steps will be Sophie what will she be wearing any wedding in the royal family is a solemn occasion joyful and solemn not dreary not over formal but it's important it's an important dress which has to match its surroundings and match the occasion at which obviously world here present Sophie will want a gown to reflect her individuality there was speculation that Thomas star chefs key might win the coveted Commission Thomas has spoken to a lot of other couturiers all of them have been trying to ask each other who's doing the dress I know he is not and I know for a fact that a very close friend of Sophie's from his school days is actually doing the dress Sophie is gonna give a really big boost both you know this great sort of helps everybody I think this reflects extremely well on Sophie she's not just going for the big names she's going to help help people who have helped her in the past but Sophie's engagement suit was by star chef Sookie who may also make some of her formal wardrobe her 3-stone diamond engagement ring cost about fifty five thousand pounds it was bought from one of her company's clients the royal jeweler's Esprit and Gerard I suspect that the Queen will give her something and I suspect the Queen will give her son something to give to her as well so I imagine she will be given certain really lovely pieces to wear on and from on her wedding day I imagine it'll be probably a tiara earrings necklace and we know various people may give her different things but I'm sure that will be provided for there will be no Diana to upstage the bride and Sarah Duchess of York may not be invited but memories will surely arise of their bright promises which turned to ashes ex royal wives palpable reminders of failure the Queen began her reign by taking a public vow on the day Iraq session that she would keep the monarchy as it was in the days of her father and her grandfather and those were least in public model royal marriages and it was a model family and these ex-wives these ruptured marriages are reminders to the Queen I think bitterly of our own failure and somewhere deep inside herself at least if she's like every mother that I've known including my own finally she'll probably blame herself Christmas 1988 the days of Diana and Fergie as royal Wives of Windsor have long passed but the traumas of those times still haunt the royal family they know that present is rooted in the past and the future in both on the royal stage there is another character who may share the limelight with Sophie Charles's longtime lover Camilla parker-bowles soon after Edwards engagement Charles attended a party at the Ritz in London afterwards they left together in a blitz of camera flashes Charles had made Camilla his public partner Twitter Parker Bowles I think must be both the Queen's worst nightmare as a future Princess of Wales and of course her best possible hope if only Charles had got to her first Camilla is the obvious Windsor why Windsor women on the whole are not clothes horses they're not beautiful they're horsey they're into head scarves and country pursuits they have a certain you know good ruff breeding about them Camilla is the perfect windsor wife none of the nervousness or moodiness of Diana but unfortunately of course she's second helpings and that's the difficulty Christmas 1998 and a less glamorous royal parade makes its way to Sandringham Church what lessons have they learned from the past it's difficult to say whether the royal family have learned from their mistakes in one sense how could they the problems that they've had all the problems that the Queen's children have had are very similar to the problems that so many other parents children have had this is an age of marital breakdown the problem for the royal family is a different one it is whether you continue in an age where it is more likely that a marriage fails and that it succeeds whether you stake so much on the outcome of that marriage we entered into a kind of collective daydream collective myth that turned finally into collective nightmare we've all got lessons to learn not just the royal family before this skiing holiday in summer it's Sophie said she was fully aware of her future responsibilities and was ready for commitment to royal life but given the high failure rate of royal marriages does she have any doubts Sophie's had five years to prepare for this she knows the worst she knows what life will be like she knows the limitations that'll be placed on her and obviously it's it's a deal that she's prepared to sign up to she doesn't seem to mind I think she thinks the advantages outweigh the disadvantages she loves inward and I think also she loves the life you know the glamour of it all I mean she could never have gone off to San Moritz for a luxury skiing holiday if she weren't the fiance of Prince Edward and that is certainly a big part of the appeal I think any girl would would be enraptured by you know the glittering score that surrounds a royal prince Sophie will be the third lady in the land the ascent of an ordinary girl into the highest ranks of the royal family is the last fairy tale of the millennium hopefully this one will last if anybody's gonna get married I hope that they think that they're gonna get it right so and as I said I mean it's you know that we're the very best of friends and that's essential and it also helps we happen to love each other as well very much and so it's great so we're very happy at the moment and long may that continue and I think getting married is a very personal thing I mean naturally there's going to be more interest in us than there would be in other people but it is a personal matter and it's a family occasion [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Real Royalty

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Keywords: royalty family, the royalty family, queen elizabeth, united kingdom, royal family, prince charles, princess diana, camilla parker bowles, prince william and kate middleton, prince william and harry, prince harry and meghan markle interview, the crown season 3, the crown trailer, the crown season 3 trailer, the crown, prince edward, sophie rhys jones, prince edward and sophie, royal wedding, prince andrew interview, prince andrew, prince andrew accuser interview

Id: 7yfv6fp9Dn0

Length: 48min 53sec (2933 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 10 2019