Sophie, The Countess of Wessex

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Sophie
Countess of Wessex

The Earl and Countess on their wedding day
Spouse	Edward, Earl of Wessex
Issue
Lady Louise Windsor
Full name
Sophie Helen Mountbatten-Windsor
Detail Titles
HRH The Countess of Wessex Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones
Royal house	House of Windsor
Father	Christopher Rhys-Jones
Mother	Mary Rhys-Jones
Born	20 January 1965 (age 42) Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford
Occupation	prev. Public Relations

The Countess of Wessex (Sophie Helen Mountbatten-Windsor; born Rhys-Jones, 20 January 1965), is a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Until recently the Countess of Wessex worked in public relations.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Marriage
4 Children
5 Countess of Wessex
6 "Fake Sheik" Affair
7 Pregnancy scares
8 Titles, styles, honours and arms
- 8.1 Titles
- 8.2 Honours
  - 8.2.1 Honorary military appointments
9 See also

[edit] Early life

The Countess was born Miss Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, the daughter of Christopher Bournes Rhys-Jones, a retired tyre salesman, and his wife, Mary Rhys-Jones (nee O'Sullivan), a secretary of Irish birth, who died on 29 August 2005 at the age of 71. [1]. The Countess' first name was chosen by chance, because when she was pregnant, her mother overheard another mother call out "Sophie!" to her little girl and she decided that she liked the name^{[citation needed]}. Her second name, Helen, comes from her father's sister who died in a riding accident more than ten years before Sophie was born.

She has an elder brother named David. She is an eleventh cousin once removed to her husband through their common ancestors Nicholas St John and Elizabeth nee Blount. Sophie has royal ancestry as she is a descendent of King Henry II of France.

Early in her life, her family moved to Kent, where she began her education at Dulwich College Preparatory School, Cranbrook. She then attended Kent College Pembury, before training as a secretary at West Kent College.

[edit] Career

Starting a career in public relations, Sophie worked for a variety of firms including Capital Radio, where she worked in the Press and Promotions Department and also PR companies The Quentin Bell Organisation and MacLaurin Communications & Media.

In 1996, she launched her own PR agency, RJH Public Relations, which she ran with her business partner Murray Harkin.

The Countess' charitable ventures are as patron of SAFC Foundation, the charitable arm of Sunderland AFC. She recently went to watch the team play in a match against Crystal Palace, as a guest of the club's chairman Niall Quinn. She is also patron of Girlguiding UK, the UK's largest all-female organisation.

[edit] Marriage

Styles of Sophie Countess of Wessex

Reference style	Her Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

On 6 January 1999 Sophie became engaged to The Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Their marriage took place on 19 June 1999 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Unlike previous weddings of the Queen's children, the wedding did not take place at either Westminster Abbey or St Paul's Cathedral, reflecting the couple's wishes to have a more low key ceremony.

On their wedding day, the Queen created the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn (the latter reflecting the origins of Sophie's family in the Welsh border country). Thus Sophie took on the style Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex.

[edit] Children

The Earl and Countess of Wessex and Lady Louise Windsor

Together the Earl and Countess of Wessex have one child:

The Lady Louise Windsor (born 8 November 2003)

The Lady Louise is the first grandchild of the sovereign in the male line not to be styled Prince or Princess with the style Royal Highness. This was in deference to the Earl and Countess's wish that their children would not carry royal titles and styles. Although the first-born male of the couple could use the Earl's title of Viscount Severn, subsequent males and females would be styled by courtesy The Hon [N] Windsor or Lady [N] Windsor, respectively. However, this arrangement will likely be revised when the Earl is (eventually) created Duke of Edinburgh.

[edit] Countess of Wessex

The Countess of Wessex began to take on royal duties after her wedding, though still worked at RJH under the name Sophie Wessex. However, the Countess soon came under criticism for appearing in public with clients of RJH at press launches, accused of using her royal status to promote her business.

British Royalty
Royal Family

HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH Prince William of Wales HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra This box: view • talk • edit

A few days before her wedding, a scandal occurred when the Sun newspaper published a picture of the Countess in a topless pose with Capital Radio presenter Chris Tarrant. The picture had been taken when she still worked at the station. It later turned out that the photo was sold to the media for the highest price by a former friend of the Countess.

[edit] "Fake Sheik" Affair

In 2001, a News of the World newspaper undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, posing as a fake sheik recorded comments made by the Countess in which she made disparaging remarks about members of the British Government, and appeared to use her royal status as a business tool to gain clients. The comments were subsequently printed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, and later by other media sources.

In an effort to prevent the publication of the remarks, the Countess agreed to give an interview to the News of the World, where she spoke of her views on the possibility of undergoing IVF fertility treatment. However, the News of the World printed their story with the headline: "My Edward's Not Gay".

By now the public perception of the Earl and Countess was badly damaged by the affair, in addition to similar criticism against the Earl of Wessex, that he was using his royal status to promote his television production company. Subsequently in 2002, the Earl and Countess of Wessex announced that they were to quit their business interests and concentrate on their royal duties.

[edit] Pregnancy scares

In December 2001, the Countess was rushed to King Edward VII Hospital in Central London, after feeling unwell. It was later discovered to be an ectopic pregnancy, a potentially life-threatening condition. In hospital, she underwent a two-and-a-half hour operation, losing a lot of blood. She did however recover, remarking sadly of the pregnancy: "it was just not meant to be".

In 2003, it was announced that the Countess was again pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, her daughter Louise, on 8 November 2003. The premature birth resulted from a sudden placental abruption that placed both mother and child at risk. The Countess was rushed to hospital and underwent an emergency caesarian section. The Earl of Wessex was in Mauritius at the time of the birth, but returned immediately.

In 2006, the Countess lent her support to the Born in Bradford research project, which is investigating causes of low birth weight and infant mortality.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles

20 January 1965-19 June 1999: Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones
19 June 1999-: Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex
- Informally: Sophie, Countess of Wessex
- Informally: Sophie Wessex