Duchess Sophie reduced to tears as King Charles gives her new honour

The Duchess of Edinburgh could not hold back her tears as she took on a major task on behalf of King Charles.

Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, who has been taking a more significant role in the royal family, is unafraid of complying with the orders given to her, even if she has to go to great lengths for it.

Sophie, who joined the royal family for the annual Christmas walkabout at Sandringham with Prince Edward and their children, marked an important milestone for the royals.

The royal had “tears dripping off [her] chin” when she listened to heart breaking stories of women refugees, who had fled from the war in Sudan, during her visit to Chad in October.

The visit had come after she became the first royal to visit the war-stricken Ukraine back in April.

According to royal author Katie Nicholl, Sophie is “vital cog” in the “royal machine” as she takes on these difficult yet meaningful engagements. Given her confidence to take on the challenging tasks, Sophie is dubbed as King Charles’ “secret weapon”.

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward described that Sophie has done a good job finding her niche in the royal family, earning her the special honour.

“She says, ‘Look, I don’t mind doing it. I quite want to go to these places,’” Seward told OK! Magazine. “Also, there’s only a finite number of things the royals can do, and they each have to find their niche.”

She explained, “They can’t cross over with each other. I remember Fergie saying to me years ago, ‘What am I going to do?’ They have to slip in where there’s a space.

“And I think that’s what Sophie has done so well. She’s doing a lot of the kind of trips Prince Philip would have done, too.”

The praise for the royal come after Duchess Sophie exuded radiance and confidence as she stepped out in an indigo Emilia Wickstead coat dress as she joined the royal family for their Christmas morning walkabout.

As the royal engagements for the year have been wrapped, it is understood that Sophie will be given a much more prominent role by King Charles given her track record for this year.