SHE has kept her emotions under control while in the public gaze, but the redness around her eyes speaks volumes about how the Countess of Wessex has been deeply affected by the loss of her mother-in-law.
For Sophie, 57, the Queen’s death means not only a step up in the royal hierarchy, but the sudden absence of the maternal figure with whom she spoke most mornings.
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The Countess of Wessex, pictured observing floral tributes to the QueenCredit: PA
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Sophie saw the Queen as a maternal figureCredit: AFP
Sophie’s memories of being with the Queen this summer are particularly fresh.
Along with her husband Prince Edward, she took their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 18, and son James Viscount Severn, 14, to stay at Balmoral.
They enjoyed all the usual Highland pursuits with, says a friend, “not a shadow of what was about to happen a few weeks after they waved goodbye to the Queen”.
The suddenness of the sovereign’s death has hit Sophie hard. Her friend says she, along with the rest of the family, “thought they had plenty of time left”.
They “fully expected” to see the Queen at Windsor, where she was expected to return as normal in October.
Windsor formed the bedrock of Sophie’s relationship with the Queen.
Most Saturday afternoons Sophie would drive the 10 miles from her home at Bagshot Park to the castle, where the Queen would be waiting for a good catch-up over tea.
This was followed by a session of war films and historical documentaries, which the pair loved to watch together – a source of their closeness.
“They watched countless films together,” says a royal source.
“If some particular event or battle caught their imagination, the Queen would sometimes arrange for the Royal Archives – kept at Windsor – to be opened so the two could pore over any relevant documents.
“Sophie is very keen on history, she’s proud of her knowledge of military campaigns, and she and the Queen could chunter on for hours about whether this general or that admiral made the right move in some battle or other.”