King Charles III's sister-in-law, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has seen her public profile spike since the coronation on May 6. First for appearances during the celebrations, then more seriously on Wednesday, after one of her police outriders was involved in a road traffic accident that has left an elderly woman in hospital.
Sophie, who married Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son Prince Edward in 1999, was considered the monarch's "favorite" daughter-in-law. Formerly known as the Countess of Wessex, she was elevated to a duchess in March when King Charles gave his brother the Duke of Edinburgh title previously held by their father.
Today the Duchess of Edinburgh is a full-time working royal, often praised for her quiet performance of public duties and uncontroversial dedication to the royal family, but this was not always the case.
In 2001 Sophie was caught up in a media sting that rocked the monarchy and showed the problems of having a "half in, half out" working royal, which could have informed the queen's decision to reject Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's request for a similar arrangement.
This rejection led to Harry and Meghan's enforced separation from the monarchy, though the couple pointed out that other royals had been afforded such arrangements.
Who Is Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh?
Born Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Duchess of Edinburgh was raised in Kent, southeast England, the daughter of a sales director father and a charity worker mother.
After attending private school and training as a secretary, Sophie moved into public relations, working for a number of businesses including a London radio station.
During this period, Sophie met Prince Edward. The pair became friends and in 1993 they were linked romantically by the press. Photographers and journalists began pursuing Sophie and, in December that year, Edward wrote an open letter to newspaper editors asking for privacy.
"I am taking this unusual step of writing to you directly in the hope of stopping your reporters and photographers from destroying that part of my life that I am entitled to regard as private and, more importantly, Sophie's life," he said.
The couple announced their engagement in January 1999. They married that summer at St George's Chapel in Windsor and assumed the titles of Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Were Sophie and Edward 'Half In, Half Out' Working Royals?
When Edward and Sophie married, they were both pursuing careers in the entertainment industry. Edward ran the TV production company Ardent and Sophie had started a PR firm with business partner Murray Harkin.
During their engagement, Sophie was quoted as saying their working lives would continue with "business as usual" after marriage. This meant the couple would be able to earn a private income while also performing official public duties when called upon.
In 2000, the couple undertook a tour of Malaysia and Brunei, as well as attending charity concerts, schools and large-scale royal events such as Trooping the Color, Christmas at Sandringham and celebrations for the Queen Mother's 100th birthday.
Was Sophie Caught in a Media Sting?
In the spring of 2001, Edward and Sophie found themselves at the centre of a media scandal after the countess was caught in a tabloid sting.
Mazher Mahmood, a notorious journalist nicknamed the "Fake Sheikh" for his tendency to masquerade as a Middle Eastern businessman, met with Sophie under the premise that he could become a lucrative client for her PR firm.
Harkin also attended the meeting at a five-star London hotel. Unknown to him or Sophie, Mahmood (who worked for the News of the World) was recording their conversation. The countess made a number of indiscreet and ill-advised comments to the "Fake Sheikh," including descriptions of royal family members and political leaders.
Speaking of the British prime minister Tony Blair, Sophie said: "We call him President Blair over here anyway because he thinks he is." She accused his government of having "snuck in so much" tax.
The countess also discussed how she was compared to Princess Diana. "I don't think I could have coped with that level of pressure or expectation," she said.
'Everyone said: 'Gosh, doesn't she look like Diana?' Then they thought: 'This isn't going to be much good because she's not going to be turning up every day in different outfits, opening children's hospitals,' you know. I do some of that but not as much as they'd like."
Damning comments were also made by Harkin, who suggested Sophie could provide endorsements for the sheikh's business deals and spoke about his own drug use and willingness to organize parties with "nice boys" for clients.
When the News of the World contacted Sophie for comment on her conversation with Mahmood, the countess agreed to give the tabloid an exclusive interview in return for the transcript not being published.
But on the same day that the interview was published, partial quotes from the Mahmood meeting appeared in other newspapers, after a leak. Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying Sophie's comments had been misrepresented.
"A member of the royal family such as the Countess of Wessex who is trying to pursue her own career is obviously vulnerable to set-ups such as this," the statement said, per the BBC.
After the News of the World's rivals printed leaked quotes from its exposé, the tabloid decided to publish the transcripts in full. In response, Sophie stepped down as chair of her PR firm but remained an executive director. Harkin resigned as managing director.
Despite her comments about the royal family—which are said to have included calling Queen Elizabeth "the old dear" and speculating about Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles—Buckingham Palace defended Sophie, saying: "The Queen deplores the entrapment, subterfuge, innuendo and untruths to which [the Wessexes] have been subjected in recent days."
Sophie's public response was similar: "I am deeply distressed by the carrying out of an entrapment operation on me and my business, but I also much regret my own misjudgment in succumbing to that subterfuge."
Mahmood's "Fake Sheikh" stings continued for a number of years, with his targets including Princess Michael of Kent and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
In 2016 the journalist was imprisoned for 15 months for conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Mahmood was found to have altered evidence in the collapsed drugs trial of singer Tulisa Contostavlos.
When Did Sophie and Edward Become Full-Time Royals?
Despite the News of the World storm, Sophie remained an executive director of her PR firm for almost a year—until the announcement that both she and Edward would become full-time working royals.
Edward had faced his own scandal in September 2001, when a film crew from his production company Ardent was caught following Prince William at university. An understanding was in place between Buckingham Palace and the media to give the prince privacy during his studies. Edward was criticized for appearing to flout this agreement, amid accusations that the couple were trying to trade on their royal connections.
The official reason given for the change was that they were required to undertake more duties for Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee year.
Since 2002, the couple have undertaken full diaries of royal engagements, including official tours. Sophie is patron of more than 70 charities; Edward works with an equal number of organisations.
They have two children: Lady Louise Windsor, 19, and James, Earl of Wessex, 15.
Did Harry and Meghan Ask For 'Half In, Half Out' Royal Roles?
Edward and Sophie's failed attempts to pursue independent business ventures when they were also working royals came back into focus in 2020, when it was revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were seeking a similar arrangement.
A statement on the couple's new website announced that Harry and Meghan "value the ability to earn a professional income, which in the current structure they are prohibited from doing. For this reason they have made the choice to become members of the royal family with financial independence."
The palace's reaction was swift: a summit was set up by Queen Elizabeth at Sandringham, with Charles and Prince William in attendance.
In his Netflix documentary released last year, Harry said he went into the meeting desiring the half in, half out model: "Have our own jobs but also work in support of the queen." This, he said, was taken off the table.
In 2020 Buckingham Palace announced that Harry and Meghan, in order to be financially independent, would leave their roles within the monarchy.
After a 12-month review, another statement was released: "The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible [for Harry and Meghan] to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service."
Speaking afterwards to Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said the couple had only sought a working arrangement enjoyed by other minor royals. "We weren't reinventing the wheel here," she said.
Although the considerations that informed Queen Elizabeth's decision to reject Harry and Meghan's proposal were not disclosed, reports in 2001 said Sophie's tabloid sting had prompted the monarch to reassess the working arrangements available to members of her family.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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