Sophie and Edward reveal the two things they do to keep their marriage strong
It’s been a busy week for the royals (and ex-royals). Meghan and Harry have been hosting the annual Invictus Games in Canada and brushing shoulders with Nelly Furtado; the Princess of Wales joined a primary school trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London; and, in a surprise twist, King Charles made a martini under the watchful eye of Stanley Tucci and mixologist Alessandro Palazzi.
But in the steep climbs of Kathmandu, Nepal, Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, were quietly off planting magnolia trees and meeting veterans and widows at the Gurkha Welfare Trust centre – as Edward’s mother and father, the late Queen and Prince Philip, had done in 1986.
Just as the trees his parents planted were thriving – “gosh, they’ve done very, very well”, Edward exclaimed – his marriage to Sophie, which has lasted more than 25 years, has stood the test of time.
The pair first met in 1987, when Sophie was working for Capital Radio. They began dating and got engaged in January 1999, before their wedding that June – the couple’s first dance was said to have been to Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me”. Edward is the only one of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s children to not have divorced.
Speaking to The Times on their six-day trip to Nepal, the couple attribute their success to two things: humour and a healthy slice of competition.
Competitive natures
“There was a wonderful confusion because they wanted us both to plant the tree, but Sophie was then going to go and plant a rhododendron,” Edward said. “Well, hang on a minute. If you’re going to plant the rhododendron, I should plant the tree – there was a lot of banter going on.”
According to the paper, Sophie laugh and agreed that they are “always” competitive with one another. She also joked about their upcoming trek to the mountain village of Ghandruk, which they did on Sunday, stating: “Got to be competitive going up those hills.”
Best friends – and humour
Another key ingredient to their happy marriage is the fact they are “best friends”, as Edward put it.
Sophie replied: “That’s true. There’s always got to be humour – especially when you’re travelling and you’ve got no idea what’s about to happen. You’ve got to laugh.”
Generally speaking, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have managed to stay out of the public eye compared to their other royal counterparts. Their children, Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and James, the Earl of Wessex, 17, also manage to keep things low-key, despite their familial connections.
That said, according to The Times, Prince William is keen to give the couple more official duties and a bigger role when he becomes King.
Read more about the royals
Royal baby names and their meanings, as Princess Beatrice calls daughter Athena (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
How Meghan is using social media to usher in her new influencer era (Yahoo Life UK, 8-min read)
"Fashion does matter – why what Kate wears will always be important" (Harper's Bazaar, 3-min read)
