{"id":525112,"date":"2026-03-07T17:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/525112\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T17:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:48:16","slug":"duchess-sophie-and-edward-are-safe-pair-of-hands-for-william","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/525112\/","title":{"rendered":"Duchess Sophie and Edward are ‘safe pair of hands’ for William"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Credit: Photo by Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh go about their royal duties without a lot of fanfare and play a vital part in keeping the wheels of the Royal Family turning day-to-day. Their children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex are 22 and 18, giving their parents more time to dedicate to royal duties whilst Prince William and Kate raise their much younger family.<\/p>\n

According to woman&home magazine\u2019s<\/a> Royal Correspondent Emily Andrews, all of the Edinburghs\u2019 could be even more important when William is King. Writing in the April edition, which is on sale now, she declared that Sophie and Edward have “proved a safe pair of hands” upon which “Prince William has indicated that he will rely” on.<\/p>\n

“Their down-to-earth and dutiful children could also reinvigorate the brand, while Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, are given time to grow up,” Emily adds.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Credit: Photo by AARON CHOWN\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Sophie: Saving the Royal Family by Sean Smith | \u00a319.41 (was \u00a325) at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

The Duchess of Edinburgh has quietly risen to become the respected and much-loved face of a family in turmoil. In this biography, bestselling author Sean Smith tells the remarkable story of how Sophie became the woman she is today and captured the nation’s hearts.View Deal<\/a><\/p>\n

Whilst we might have expected Prince William to continue to “rely” on his aunt and uncle, it\u2019s interesting to consider how Lady Louise and James might get involved in their cousin\u2019s reign. The Royal Correspondence notes that whether they “wish to serve as first rank royals is a different matter”, though she adds that Louise “has indicated she wants to serve in the Armed Forces”.<\/p>\n

The slimmed-down monarchy has become even more evident in recent years and there\u2019s been no move to appoint any more working royals to help lighten the load for the others. However, Lady Louise and James wouldn\u2019t necessarily have to take on official roles to help Prince William, either with engagements or in terms of boosting the Royal Family\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s other nieces and nephew are often seen at events like Ascot, Wimbledon and Garden Parties despite none of them being working royals. Their presence still supports the monarch and raises the profile of The Firm, so perhaps Louise and James could do this more one day.<\/p>\n

\"James,<\/p>\n

Credit: (Photo by Mark Cuthbert\/UK Press via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Their parents Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie have raised them with the expectation that they\u2019ll have to work elsewhere anyway and accompanying them to visits or events is a more low-key option. The Edinburghs and Waleses are close and royal author Katie Nicholl alleged in The New Royals<\/a> that Kate is “said to admire” Edward and Sophie\u2019s parenting.<\/p>\n

Lady Louise Windsor taught Princess Charlotte how to draw landscapes and animals at Balmoral when she was younger. She also reportedly looked after George, Charlotte and Louis whilst the families were up there.<\/p>\n

It sounds like Lady Louise in particular could be seen as something of a role model for the Wales kids and that\u2019s surely exactly the kind of person Prince William would wish to have at the heart of the Royal Family when he ascends the throne, even on an as-and-when basis.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Credit: Photo by YUI MOK\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens with Louise and James, Emily believes that the Prince of Wales can “rely” on Sophie and Edward like King Charles does now.<\/p>\n

Give the gift of woman&home<\/p>\n

\"woman&home<\/p>\n

woman&home magazine cover with Nadiya Hussain<\/p>\n

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The couple have stepped up more than ever in recent years and last year former BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond claimed that Sophie “is now one of the most trusted women in the King\u2019s circle and is viewed as a senior and highly respected member of the Royal Family.”<\/p>\n

“Charles always seems completely at ease with her. She is a sister-in-law he can trust and depend on,” she declared.<\/p>\n

Read Emily Andrews\u2019 full feature in woman&home\u2019s April issue<\/a>, on sale now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,261306,134,528,261307,126317,126316,13204,15753,7551,15754,261308,10659,145874,65775],"class_list":{"0":"post-525112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-emily-andrews","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-getty-images","14":"tag-lady-louise","15":"tag-lady-louise-windsor","16":"tag-prince-edward","17":"tag-prince-george","18":"tag-prince-louis","19":"tag-prince-william","20":"tag-princess-charlotte","21":"tag-royal-correspondent","22":"tag-sophie","23":"tag-the-duchess-of-edinburgh","24":"tag-the-royal-family"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}