Sophie Wessex is ‘relieved’ that her rise through the royal ranks means she no longer has to curtsy to Meghan, her friends say
Relations between them were said to have been strained when the Duchess of Sussex reportedly turned down the chance for Sophie Wessex to guide her through life as a royal.
Now friends of Sophie, the new Duchess of Edinburgh, say she is “relieved” that her rise through the royal ranks means she no longer needs to curtsy to Meghan.
Previously, the former Countess of Wessex had a duty to defer to Prince Harry’s wife, who, as a duchess, held a higher rank.
But Prince Edward was promoted to Duke of Edinburgh to mark his 59th birthday on Friday, meaning Sophie is now a duchess too.
A friend of the couple said: ‘Sophie is relieved. No longer does she have to curtsy to someone in the family who has not only left her royal duties, but has spent the last three years criticizing the institution that Sophie works so hard to maintain.
Friends of Sophie, the new Duchess of Edinburgh (left), say she is “relieved” that her rise through the royal ranks means she no longer needs to curtsy to Meghan (right)
Meghan explained the intricacies of curtsying in her recent Netflix series.
The Sussexes revealed that before a meeting with the late Queen, Harry asked Meghan: ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ Meghan told the cameras: “I thought it was a joke,” before recreating the exaggerated bow she gave Queen Elizabeth II and laughing.
However, it is a tradition that the Royal Family takes seriously. Princess Anne was seen taking a moving curtsy to her mother’s coffin as she entered the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland.
Claims about the tensions between Sophie and Meghan appear in Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, by author and friend of the Royals Gyles Brandreth.
He writes that Meghan “made it clear” that she did not need Sophie’s help and would instead trust Prince Harry.
