Sophie Wessex Revelation: Countess Tried to Help Meghan Markle Adjust to Royal Life
Contrary to what Meghan Markle said about the royal family, not all of them tried to sabotage her or make her life a living hell.
In fact, Prince Harry's aunt, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, has tried to help the Duchess of Sussex settle and adjust to her life as a royal.
Sophie is married to Prince Edward, who is the son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
She has two children, Lady Louise, 16, and James Viscount Severn, 12.
Before marrying into the royal family, Sophie Rhys Jones came from a middle-class family and worked for a PR company.
Similar to Meghan, Countess Sophie has also struggled with the scrutiny of the British press, especially in 1999, when tabloids have posted a topless photo of her.
The Countess became a friend to the former "Suits" actress when she and Prince Harry moved into Frogmore Cottage, which is 10 miles away from the Wessex's home.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 55-year-old Countess discussed her niece and nephew.
"We all try to help any new member of the family."
Comparing her experience of marrying Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth's "secret weapon" reveals, "Remember I'd had five years to adjust. And for our six-month engagement, I was even staying at Buckingham Palace. Not that you necessarily know how it will pan out."
When asked if she and the other senior royals will be taking more public engagements and patronages since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left, Sophie said, "We've all got our own little portfolios. I don't see anything changing, but if we're asked to do more. I don't know because it hasn't happened."
While Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the British royal family members have released statements and masked comments about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's decision to quit their royal lives, the Countess of Wessex spoke directly about the couple's life-changing decision.
"I just hope they will be happy," Sophie revealed.
It has been noticed that Sophie has been chatting with Meghan Markle on previous public occasions, most noticeably during the couple's final royal engagement on Commonwealth Day in March.
The two couples, with Sophie and Prince Edward, sat next to each other at Westminster Abbey.
But it wasn't just Sophie who spoke freely about the younger royals in the British royal family.
Princess Anne, also Queen Elizabeth's daughter, have offered some advice to the new royals, despite not mentioning any names.
The "hardest-working member of the family," who carried out more than 500 royal engagements last year, spoke to Vanity Fair and shared her concerns about the new generation's "new ways" of doing things, saying, "please do not reinvent that particular wheel."
Princess Anne spoke to the magazine a month after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step down, saying, "I don't think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past, and it's often true, isn't it?"
She continued, "You don't necessarily look at the previous generation and say, 'Oh, you did that?' or, 'You went there?'"
For her, the new generation is said to be looking for new ways, and the Princess is already at the stage of "please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We've been there, done that. Some of these things don't work."
"You need to go back to basics," she said.
