Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Was One of the Queen's Favorites

On Sept. 13, 2022, when Queen Elizabeth II's coffin was transferred to the Palace of Westminster, Meghan Markle rode in a car together with Sophie, former Countess of Wessex (now Duchess of Edinburgh), during the funeral procession. As the wife of the queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and a former businesswoman, Sophie's net worth is in the millions.

Read on to find out just how rich the Duchess of Edinburgh is today and what she did before marrying into royalty.

Sophie, 57, has a net worth estimated at $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Ironically, her husband, Prince Edward, also has an estimated net worth of $10 million. The British media consider her to have been the queen’s “rock,” whom the monarch treated like a “second daughter.”

The Countess, whose full name is Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, was raised in an English middle-class family and worked in public relations at Capital Radio in London when she met Edward. When the two first met in 1987, Edward was dating Sophie’s friend. It wasn’t until 1993 when she was handling the publicity for the Prince Edward Tennis Challenge, that the two started a relationship.

The couple dated for about five years before Edward popped the question when they were on vacation in the Bahamas. They married on June 19, 1999, at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in a more modest ceremony than the elaborate weddings of his brothers, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew.

“When his bride walked up the aisle, a relaxed Edward greeted her with a smile — and a wink,” People reported in 1999.

At their wedding, the queen bestowed the titles of Earl and Countess of Wessex to the couple. Sophie chose to be referred to as Sophie Wessex. The couple moved to Bagshot Park, a royal mansion in Surrey, England.

After Edward and Sophie married, the royal family agreed that he would become the Duke of Edinburgh after the queen and Prince Philip died, the BBC reported in 1999. Sophie would become the Duchess of Edinburgh.

According to the Daily Mail, the final say on the new titles for Edward and Sophie was in the hands of now-King Charles, who held the title of Duke of Edinburgh since inheriting the role from Philip. A few months after Charles took on the title as king, he celebrated Prince Edward's 59th birthday by giving him the title of Duke of Edinburgh. That immediately changed Sophie's title to Duchess of Edinburgh.

Sophie was reportedly very close with the queen, her mother-in-law, especially after her own mother, Mary Rhys-Jones, died of stomach cancer in 2005. Sophie and the queen would often walk their dogs together and loved researching military history together, the Daily Mail reports.

After Philip died in 2021, Sophie was reportedly the main person the queen turned to for comfort, and the two women spoke to each other almost daily.

Besides her royal title, Sophie is quite a philanthropist. She left her public relations career in 2002 to represent the royal family full-time. She works with over 70 charities and organizations and represents the royal family in numerous engagements at schools, universities, and military bases.