The Earl and Countess
of Wessex are popular members of the royal family and have increasingly
represented the Queen at official engagements over the last couple of years.
As the long-time couple proved
on their recent tour of the Caribbean and visits to the Channel
Islands and the Isle of Wight, they make a great team and clearly have a
lot of fun together.
But how much do you know about
their relationship, from how Prince Edward and Sophie met to when they got
married and became parents?
How
did Prince Edward and Sophie meet?
Sophie, then called Sophie
Rhys-Jones, first met the Queen’s youngest son at Capital Radio in 1987,
although romance didn’t bloom as the Prince was going out with her friend at
the time.
They bumped into each other
again in 1993 at a charity event, when Sophie worked as a public relations
executive, co-owning the firm RJH Public Relations with her business partner
Murray Harkin.
 |
The couple first met back in 1987
Edward and Sophie began
dating, and rumours swirled that things were becoming serious between them
after the royal brought Sophie as his guest to royal weddings and events.
When
did they get engaged?
The couple were in no rush to
settle down, however, and didn’t announce their engagement until January
1999, when they were both 34 years old.
What
was Sophie’s engagement ring like?
Edward popped the question
with a stunning Asprey and Garrard white gold ring featuring a two-carat oval
diamond surrounded by two heart-shaped gemstones and rumoured to be worth
£105,000.
 |
The Wessexes on their wedding day
Where
and when did Sophie and Edward get married?
The couple tied the knot the
summer after their engagement, marrying at St George’s Chapel at Windsor
Castle, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Princess Eugenie and Jack
Brooksbank would go on to do in 2018.
The ceremony took place on 19
June 1999 and was smaller and less formal than other royal weddings, with an
intimate guest list, no military involvement and those attending asked not to
wear hats – although the Queen Mother stylishly defied that
recommendation!
How
many children do Prince Edward and Sophie have?
The couple are doting parents
to two children. They welcomed their daughter, 18-year-old Lady Louise
Windsor, on 8 November 2003, and went on to have a son, James, Viscount
Severn, 14, on 17 December 2007.
 |
Sophie and Edward share two children
James is the youngest of
the Queen’s grandchildren and the only one who is under 18.
Do
the couple’s children have royal titles?
Sophie has previously spoken
about wanting their children to live as normal lives as possible, which
included not encouraging them to use their royal titles.
In an interview with The
Sunday Times in 2020, the mum-of-two said: “We try to bring them up
with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living.
Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can
decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”
Have
Prince Edward or Sophie been married before?
Prince Edward is the only one
of the Queen’s children to not have divorced and remarried, and the marriage is
also Sophie’s first. They will celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary later
this month.
