Sophie, Countess of Wessex

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Sophie
Countess of Wessex (more)
HRH Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Spouse Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
(m. 1999)
Issue
Lady Louise Windsor
James, Viscount Severn
Full name
Sophie Helen[1]
House House of Windsor
Father Christopher Rhys-Jones
Mother Mary Rhys-Jones
Born 20 January 1965 (1965-01-20) (age 47)
Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford
Religion Anglican (Church of England)

Sophie, Countess of Wessex GCVO (Sophie Helen; née Rhys-Jones; born 20 January 1965), is the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, himself the youngest son of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Married in 1999, she worked in public relations until 2002 and now supports her husband in his royal duties. The Earl and Countess have two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.

Contents

[edit] Early life

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, along with former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Lincoln Alexander, unveil a Ontario Heritage Trust plaque in front of the Toronto Dominion Centre, 2006

Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones was born at Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, on 20 January 1965, the second child and first daughter of Christopher Bournes Rhys-Jones (born 1931), a retired tyre salesman, and his wife, Mary (née O'Sullivan; 1934–2005), a secretary,[2] who already had a son, David. Sophie was named after her father's sister, Helen, who died in a riding accident more than a decade before Sophie was born. Her godfather, actor Thane Bettany, is her father's stepbrother;[3] both men spent their early life in Sarawak, North Borneo, then a British protectorate ruled by the White Rajahs.[4]

While she was still young, the Rhys-Jones family moved to Brenchley, Kent. She began her education at Dulwich Preparatory School, before moving on to Kent College, Pembury where she was friends with Sarah Sienesi, with whom she subsequently shared a flat in Fulham and who later became her lady in waiting. She then trained as a secretary at West Kent College, Tonbridge.[citation needed]

[edit] Career

The Royal Family of the
United Kingdom
and the
other Commonwealth realms
Badge of the House of Windsor.svg

HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh


She began a career in public relations, working for a variety of firms, including four years at Capital Radio, where she was assigned to the press and promotions department, as well as public relations companies The Quentin Bell Organisation and MacLaurin Communications & Media. She also worked as a ski representative in Switzerland and spent a year travelling and working in Australia. In 1996, with enough experience behind her, Rhys-Jones then launched her public relations agency, RJH Public Relations, which she ran with her business partner, Murray Harkin.

In 2001, a News of the World undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, posing as a sheikh, recorded the Countess making disparaging comments about certain members of the British government and appearing to use her royal status in order to gain clientele. The comments were subsequently published in The Mail on Sunday newspaper, and then by other media outlets. Buckingham Palace released a statement saying the reported comments were 'selective, distorted and in several cases, flatly untrue'.[5] Subsequently, in 2002, both the Earl and Countess announced that they would quit their business interests in order to focus on royal duties and aid the Queen in her Golden Jubilee year.[6]

The Countess at the England vs Germany 2010 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy Bronze Medal Match

[edit] Marriage

TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex at the wedding of the Crown Princess of Sweden in June 2010

The engagement of Sophie Rhys-Jones and The Prince Edward, the youngest son of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was announced on 6 January 1999. Their wedding took place on 19 June of the same year at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, a break from the weddings of Edward's older siblings, which were large, formal events at Westminster Abbey or St Paul's Cathedral.

The couple had met six years earlier, in 1993, at a charity event, and began their relationship soon afterwards.[7]

On the day of their marriage, The Queen declared her son would eventually be created Duke of Edinburgh, when that title merges with the Crown after both the Queen and Prince Philip die and Charles, who is the heir to his father's title as well as his mother's, has become King – Sophie would then become the Duchess of Edinburgh. Until then The Prince Edward would be Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, the latter title reflecting his bride's Welsh origins. Upon her marriage Rhys-Jones became Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex. After the union, the couple moved to Bagshot Park, in Surrey.

In December 2001, the Countess was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital after feeling unwell, whereupon it was discovered that she was suffering from a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, on 8 November 2003. It was a premature birth, resulting from a sudden placental abruption that placed both the mother and child at risk, and the Countess had to undergo an emergency caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital, while the Earl of Wessex rushed back from Mauritius. The Countess returned to Frimley Park Hospital on 17 December 2007, to give birth, again by caesarean section, to her son, James, Viscount Severn.[8] The children, per prior agreement between the Queen and their parents, will either not use or not have (depending on interpretation) the titles of Prince and Princess, nor the style Royal Highness.

The Countess of Wessex is particularly close to her mother-in-law, the Queen, with whom she rides and shares an interest in military history. The Countess is reported to be the first of the Queen's children-in-law with whom she has enjoyed a permanently warm relationship.[9] Due to this fact, The Countess is privileged enough to be the only member of the Royal Family to ride in the State Limousine with HM The Queen at Sandringham on Christmas Day.[10]

[edit] Official duties

The Countess of Wessex began to take on royal duties after her wedding, with her first overseas tour being to the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island in 2000.[11] She also became patron of a number of organisations, including the SAFC Foundation (the charitable arm of Sunderland AFC), and Girlguiding UK. In 2006, the Countess also lent her support to the Born in Bradford research project, which is investigating causes of low birth weight and infant mortality.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex are the primary representatives of her Majesty the Queen at foreign royal events. In this capacity, the Countess has attended the weddings of Prince Haakon of Norway, Princess Martha Louise of Norway, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the 40th birthday celebrations for Prince Willem-Alexander and the coronation and the wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

In December 2011, the Countess of Wessex joined her husband visiting troops in Afghanistan. On the same trip, the royal couple visited Bahrain, and received two gifts of jewels from the Bahraini royal family and Prime Minister. Given concern about human rights abuses in Bahrain, this gift attracted controversy, with calls for the jewels to be sold, and the proceeds used for the benefit of the Bahraini people.[12] In February and March 2012, The Earl and Countess will visit the Caribbean for the Diamond Jubilee. The itinerary consists of St Lucia; Barbados; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Grenada; Trinidad and Tobago; Montserrat; St Kitts and Nevis; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda. Highlights include the 50th Anniversary Independence Day celebrations in St. Lucia, a joint address from both houses of the Barbados parliament and a visit to sites affected by the recent volcanic eruptions in Montserrat [13]

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

Royal styles of
The Countess of Wessex
Arms of Sophie, Countess of Wessex.svg
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am

[edit] Titles and styles

  • 20 January 1965 – 19 June 1999: Miss Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones
  • 19 June 1999 – present: Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex[14]

Sophie's style and title in full: Her Royal Highness The Princess Edward Antony Richard Louis, Countess of Wessex, Viscountess Severn, Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Decorations

[edit] Honorary military appointments

Canada Canada
United Kingdom United Kingdom

[edit] Arms

[edit] Issue

Name Birth Marriage Issue
Lady Louise Windsor 8 November 2003
James, Viscount Severn 17 December 2007

[edit] Ancestry

Sophie is the 11th cousin once removed of her husband, through their common ancestors Nicholas St John of Lydiard Tregoze and his wife, Elizabeth (née Blount, a relative of royal mistress Elizabeth Blount). She is also of Welsh and Irish ancestry, through her father and her mother respectively, as well as distantly of French ancestry, being a descendant of King Henry II of France, which also makes her a distant descendant of Henry III of England. Sophie's paternal grandmother was a member of the family of the Viscounts Molesworth. Sophie is also a descendent of the Welsh prince and warrior Elystan Glodrydd by her father.

[edit] Criticism

The Countess of Wessex has been criticised for accepting two sets of jewels from the royal family of Bahrain during an official day-long[21] visit to the country in December 2011, as she and her husband returned to the UK from a trip to Afghanistan. She was given one set by Bahrain’s king and a second set by the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa. Her husband, the earl, received a pen and a watch as well as a silk rug from the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who also gave the countess a silver and pearl cup. The value of the jewellery has not been estimated and its precise contents were not disclosed.[22]

Critics said the countess should sell the gems and give the proceeds to political protesters in Bahrain. Denis MacShane, a former Foreign Office minister, said: “Given the appalling suffering and repression of the Bahraini people, it would be a fitting gesture for the Countess of Wessex to auction these trinkets and distribute the proceeds to the victims of the regime.”[22]

[edit] Gift guidelines

Royal Family guidelines and procedures relating to gifts drafted in 2003 state that "before accepting any gift, careful consideration should always be given, wherever practicable, to the donor, the reason for and occasion of the gift and the nature of the gift itself (..) Equally, before declining the offer of a gift, careful consideration should be given to any offence that might be caused by such action."[21]


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ As a titled royal, Sophie holds no surname, but, when one is used, it is Mountbatten-Windsor.
  2. ^ "Countess of Wessex's mother dies". BBC. 29 August 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4194720.stm. Retrieved 27 October 2008. 
  3. ^ Peerage genealogy
  4. ^ Biography of Paul Bettany
  5. ^ "Palace denies reports of Sophie insults". BBC News. 2 April 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1255645.stm. Retrieved 8 July 2011. 
  6. ^ "Sophie and Edward quit business roles". BBC News. 2 March 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1850847.stm. 
  7. ^ "History - Prince Edward's wedding (pictures, video, facts & news)". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/prince_edwards_wedding. Retrieved 2011-12-27. 
  8. ^ "Countess gives birth to baby boy". BBC. 17 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7148830.stm. Retrieved 27 October 2008. 
  9. ^ Kay, Richard; Levy, Geoffrey (4 August 2010). "Do they really have to look so glum? What these pictures tell us about the Royals". London: Dailymail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1300096/What-pictures-say-Royals.html?ito=feeds-newsxml. Retrieved 4 August 2010. 
  10. ^ "Sophie Wessex is Kate Middleton’s Steadying Hand". DailyExpress. 21 November 2010. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/212744/Sophie-Wessex-is-Kate-Middleton-s-steadying-hand. 
  11. ^ Scott, Burke; Aimers, John (October 2001). "Wessexs' Tour a Triumph". Canadian Monarchist News (Monarchist League of Canada) (Autumn 2001). http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2001/wessex.htm. Retrieved 27 October 2008. [dead link]
  12. ^ Sawer, Patrick (8 January 2012). "How a routine royal visit spelt trouble for the Countess of Wessex". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8999872/How-a-routine-royal-visit-spelt-trouble-for-the-Countess-of-Wessex.html. 
  13. ^ Carolyn Harris Royal Historian http://www.royalhistorian.com/royals-of-the-caribbean-the-2012-diamond-jubilee-commonwealth-tours-begin/
  14. ^ The style "Princess Sophie", although often uses by the public and the media, is always incorrect. With rare exceptions (such as Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester) only women born to the title (such as The Princess Anne) may use it before their given names. After her marriage Sophie is officially styled HRH The Countess of Wessex.
  15. ^ a b "Sophie, Countess of Wessex". Regiments.org. http://www.regiments.org/biography/royals/1965sopW.htm. Retrieved 27 October 2008. [dead link]
  16. ^ a b Mad Hattery, pictures during Princess Victoria of Sweden's wedding
  17. ^ "The Earl and Countess of Wessex Receive Centennial Medal" (Press release). Government of Saskatchewan. 7 June 2005. http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=6f57e213-b361-4db4-99d0-08daa71a484e. Retrieved 27 October 2008. 
  18. ^ "The Countess of Wessex appointed to the Royal Victorian Order" (Press release). Queen's Printer. 20 January 2010. http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2010/TheCountessofWessexappointedtotheRoyalVictorianOrd.aspx. Retrieved 20 January 2010. 
  19. ^ "South Alberta Light Horse". Salh.net. http://www.salh.net/colonel-in-chief.php. Retrieved 2011-12-27. 
  20. ^ a b Sophie's new coat. BBC News. 19 May 1999. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  21. ^ a b Staff writer (7 January 2012). "Countess of Wessex's Bahrain jewel gift criticised". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16452634. Retrieved 9 January 2012. 
  22. ^ a b Andy Bloxham (6 January 2012). "Countess of Wessex criticised for accepting jewels from Bahrain". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8999280/Countess-of-Wessex-criticised-for-accepting-jewels-from-Bahrain.html. Retrieved 9 January 2012. 
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Duchess of Cornwall
Ladies
HRH The Countess of Wessex
Succeeded by
The Princess Royal

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