The Princess of Wales might be the "jewel in the crown," but there is another royal who has been dubbed the royal family's "secret weapon." That distinction belongs to the Duchess of Edinburgh, according to etiquette expert Laura Windsor.
Known as the "Queen of Etiquette," Laura named Sophie the "most well-behaved royal."
"She is becoming the secret weapon of the royal family because she represents the King abroad," Laura, founder of the Laura Windsor Etiquette Academy, tells HELLO!. "She's never done anything wrong, and she should get all the media attention because she is the epitome of polite behaviour. And it's not about her.
"She helps a lot of organizations, mainly women in distress situations, and there's not enough media attention on her. Even she says, no one knows about me, in a sort of non-arrogant way, as if to say, you know, maybe people do need to know what I'm doing, and she is highly admired by the King."
The author of Modern British Manners - A Cross-Cultural Series also describes Sophie as "emotionally intelligent." It's emotional intelligence, she says, that allows one to "understand the old way things were done."
© Getty Images/Ionica Adriana"That is the difference. If you put Meghan [Markle] next to Sophie, well, there we have it," Laura observes, adding: "Polar opposites."
When it comes to being a member of the royal family, there is etiquette that must be adhered to, with emotional intelligence and deportment among them.
"I think Sophie was like that to begin with. She's always been very mature," Laura points out. "She's always taken her role and her responsibility as if she'd been doing it since day one.
© Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images"You can see that by the way she walks, by the way she acts. I don't think it's so much taught. I think it's part of her character and her personality. So Edward did very well to choose such a lovely lady to marry. And in fact, there's never been any kind of bad publicity about them at all."
Though early in her royal tenure, she made headlines in 2001 after allegedly making comments about royals and politicians during a conversation that was secretly taped.
The Duchess has been a member of the British royal family since June 1999, when she married Prince Edward, the son of the late Queen Elizabeth and younger brother of King Charles.
© MIKE SIMMONDS/AFP via Getty ImagesSophie herself has addressed the suggestion that she is the royal family's secret weapon. Speaking to The Sun in 2025, the Duchess said: "It's all very well being a secret weapon but if no one knows, maybe it's too secret.
Sophie then added: "I suppose I should take it as a backhanded compliment.
"I don't see myself in a frontline position per se, that said, admittedly there are fewer working members of the family these days so I suppose more and more are becoming less secretive.
"I just wonder what they are going to describe me as next."
