Queen Elizabeth Treated Sophie, Countess of Wessex Differently From Princess Diana, Sarah

Queen Elizabeth II treated Sophie, Countess of Wessex, differently from Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson.

Some claim that the Queen’s favorite royal is Prince Edward’s wife. Whether this is true or not, one thing is sure, the Countess of Wessex is treated differently by Her Majesty compared to the late Princess of Wales and Duchess of York and there’s a reason behind this.

According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward in her 1995 book “Prince Edward,” when Prince Edward was dating Sophie, the Queen had already learned from the mistakes she did in the past involving his siblings’ wives. Queen Elizabeth became more lenient and allowed Prince Edward to have his then-girlfriend as much as possible if he wanted to.

“Both Sarah and Diana had moved into the Palace, but not until they were formally engaged. Even then they were carefully accommodated at the other end of the principal floor so that appearances could be maintained,” Seward wrote.

“Those strictures were set aside for Sophie. She was free to stay with Prince Edward wherever and whenever she wanted to. It was an eminently sensible way of familiarising Sophie with a forbidding family of enormous complexity,” the author added.

Seward recalled how Princess Diana and Ferguson discovered the difficulty of royal life only after they were engaged and en route to the altar. Before Prince Edward and Sophie got engaged, she was already given a careful and subtle introduction to the life that awaited her when she officially becames a royal.

Princess Diana and Ferguson noticed how Sophie was treated differently and would later complain with resentment in their voices that they didn’t receive the same support as they went through the terms of their new situation.

Sophie’s introduction to the royal life reportedly had parallels with Kate Middleton who co-habited with Prince William when their relationship became serious. Also, Prince Edward and Sophie waited for six years before they decided to get married. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also dated for almost a decade before they finally decided to tie the knot.

Prince Edward’s first marriage is the only successful one among Queen Elizabeth II’s four children. Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew all divorced their first spouses.