Duchess Sophie Wessex’s four-word comment about King Charles and his true character
The Duchess of Edinburgh, who celebrates her 61st birthday today, reportedly offered up her thoughts on her famous brother-in-law while visiting a South Asian nation
Duchess Sophie once shared a touching comment about King Charles’ character(Image: Samir Hussein, Samir Hussein/WireImagevia Getty Images)
Duchess Sophie once made a heartfelt remark about King Charles’ character whilst on an overseas trip to Asia. Given that the Royal Family’s “secret weapon” and “saviour” has forged such a reputation, it stands to reason that the Duchess of Edinburgh, who marks her 61st birthday today (January 20), enjoys a strong bond with the King.
Indeed, Sophie seems to be living up to her Royal monikers, clocking up “tens of thousands of miles” and meeting with war survivors and refugees as part of her official engagements, according to recent reports.
Her extensive travel schedule isn’t a recent development, though; the Duchess has undertaken international visits previously, including to Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia renowned for its towering mountains .
During this particular journey, Sophie visited Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organisation supporting victims of human trafficking (which Charles had also visited in 1998), where she reportedly shared a comment about her distinguished brother-in-law.
The Duchess of Edinburgh celebrates her 61st birthday today(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
Roya Nikkhah, Royal editor of The Sunday Times, who had accompanied Sophie on the trip, discussed on The Royals with Roya and Kate podcast a “wonderful” woman called Anita who’d resided at the location since childhood.
Speaking in February 2025, Roya said: “It’s an extraordinary place and she now works in the sort of textiles area and she’d made this handmade cushion for the King and she explained to Sophie that she’d met him.
“And she showed the photo when he came all those years ago and she was much younger and she’d made this cushion and gave it to Sophie, who said, ‘I’ll be absolutely sure he gets it’.
“And it had a very sweet card written in it, saying, you know, ‘I want you to know how much your visit all those years ago meant’. Apparently, she told people, that people were saying, ‘What’s the King like now?’ And she said, ‘Oh, he’s still the same’, hasn’t changed.”
Sophie shared the comments about Charles during a trip to Nepal(Image: Getty Images)
Sophie has travelled to numerous countries including Ukraine, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, meeting peacekeeping forces in the DR Congo and marking the 30th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Earlier this month, the Telegraph’s Hannah Furness weighed in on Sophie’s selection of causes, describing them as “bold”. She even noted how they were “far removed from the soap opera of royal headlines”.
Hannah observed: “It is difficult work: vivid, traumatic, and often far, far removed from the soap opera of royal headlines back in Britain.
“Not for nothing is Sophie regularly called the Royal Family’s ‘secret weapon’; the quiet ‘saviour’ of the monarchy which has been rather lacking in active members of late through little fault of its own.”
Discussing the Duchess further, she remarked: “The causes she has chosen to champion are bold, and she is unflinching in talking about the crimes that others might hide in euphemism.”
