Sophie Wessex, 57, looked emotional as she joined the Queen's funeral procession yesterday alongside Meghan Markle. The pair had travelled together by car, following The Queen Consort and the Princess of Wales.
In Westminster Hall, they joined the Queen Consort and the Princess of Wales standing stood close to the door where the Queen’s coffin, accompanied by their husbands, would be arriving imminently. Kate, Sophie and Meghan stood with their hands joined in front, whilst Camilla stood with her arms by her side. Kate could be seen briefly speaking to both Camilla and Sophie, while at other points she kept her eyes fixed towards the floor.
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Recounting her experience from inside Westminster Hall, royal writer Rebecca English said that there was a 'notable gap between Sophie and Meghan ' at first, 'while the three working royals bunched together'.
She added: 'Meghan, 41, looked decidedly self-conscious from my vantage point, just above her in the 900-year-old building, the oldest on the parliamentary estate.
'Shoulders back, clutching her programme and bag, she was the most stylish and striking of them all. She wore a pair of pearl earrings given to her by the Queen as a wedding present.
'But there was something self-consciously awkward about her posture, demonstrating the depth of the rift between herself and the rest of the royal family even if you happened upon them without any prior knowledge of the acrimony of the past four years.
'Indeed Meghan, who was holding black leather gloves, seemed so lost for something to do that at one point she rested her left hand in her pocket.'
But Sophie, who has a reputation as a 'peacemaker' within the royal family, and was the first royal to visit Meghan and Harry after Archie's birth, could be seen leaning over to chat.
Describing the sweet gesture, English added: 'Meghan, who had travelled in a car with Sophie from Buckingham Palace earlier - while the Queen Consort and Kate, as the two most senior women now in the royal family, went ahead together - a reason to move slightly closer to her husband's aunt.'
Sophie, 57, has been married to Her Majesty's youngest son Prince Edward, 58, since 1999, and they share two children: the Queen's so-called 'favourite' granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor, 18, and James Viscount Severn, 14.
She and the now Queen Consort were the only non-blood relatives to be at Balmoral after the monarch's death - with Sophie, 57, previously described as a 'second daughter' to the late monarch.
Sophie, who grew up in a middle-class family and founded a PR firm before joining the Royal Family, has been compared with Meghan, as they both became working royals.
Previously, in a rare interview with The Sunday Times, Sophie compared her experiences to Meghan's.
Speaking to the paper, she compared Meghan and Harry's experience to hers with Edward, adding: "Remember I’d had five years to adjust [to royal life]. And for our six-month engagement I was even staying at Buckingham Palace.
"Not that you necessarily know how it will pan out."
Speaking about the Sussexes exit from the firm, she said: "I just hope they will be happy.”
But possibly more pointedly, she said that the royal family do all they can to try to assist new members to adjust to the royal life, as she insisted: "We all try to help any new members of the family”.
