Prince Edward’s wife Sophie Wessex breaks down mid-interview

It’s been a tough few months for the royal family, and the strain was evident as Prince Edward’s wife Sophie Wessex broke down in a TV interview.

A tearful Sophie Wessex today revealed that Prince Philip’s death left a “giant-sized hole” in the royal family.

Fighting back tears, the Countess spoke about how the pandemic has “slightly skewed things” – meaning the family haven’t been able to properly grieve.

The Duke of Edinburgh passed away “peacefully” at Windsor Castle on April 9, just two months and one day short of what would have been his 100th birthday.

Now Sophie, who is married to the Queen’s son, Prince Edward, has spoken of how the family are coping two months after his death.

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Sophie broke down as she spoke about the ‘giant-sized hole’ in the royal family.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Well he has left a giant-sized hole in our lives.

“I think the pandemic has unfortunately slightly skewed things in as much as it’s hard to spend as much time with the Queen as we would like to.

“We’ve been trying to, but of course it’s still not that easy.

“And of course the normal way of things isn’t normal yet so we’re not necessarily doing the things that we would normally have done with him.

“So I think the whole grieving process is probably likely for us to take a lot longer. It may be the same for many other families out there.

“Because if you’re not living with somebody, 24/7, the immediate loss isn’t necessarily felt in the same way, as if somebody was in the house with you all the time.”

As the interview continued, Sophie began to well-up, as interviewer Naga Munchetty asked: “Are you OK?”

‘Just talking to you now, it’s a bit of an ‘oh my goodness’ moment.’

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Sophie responded: “It’s only when you would do the normal things that you would have done with them, and you suddenly realise that they are not there, that you really start to have an ‘oh my goodness’ moment.

“Just talking to you now, it’s a bit of an ‘oh my goodness’ moment. I think they’ll come and go. But you have to let them come and go.”

On the day of Philip’s passing, the Edward and Sophie were seen arriving at Windsor Castle in a blue Land Rover Discovery and spent around an hour with the Queen.

As she left the castle, the Countess of Wessex tearfully said: “The Queen has been amazing.”

Sophie spoke to reporters from the car driven by her husband.

Back in April heartbreaking images from the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral showing a lonely looking Queen sitting by herself while she said farewell to the Duke of Edinburgh were published around the world.

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This photo, taken by Sophie, shows Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth in Scotland in 2003. Picture: AFP

In the wide-ranging interview, Sophie said her “whole foundation” has been “shaken” by the pandemic but she has faith in the scientists.

She said: “I think, every now and then, I certainly had the odd wobble, where I just couldn’t see an end to it, I couldn’t visualise how this was all going to pan out. Life, all the normal things that we could do, had just … it was like sand through your hands. Nothing felt tangible anymore.”

The Countess went on: “I think our whole foundation has been shaken by this.

It’s been a tough few months for the royal family. Picture: AFP

“We’re putting so much faith in the scientists in coming up with vaccines, and, goodness, I’m just in awe of what they’ve done. But we’re sort of holding our breath.

“There will be more variants, we know that. Every time there is a new variant, we just have to hold our breath and hope that the vaccines are good enough to stand up against them.

“So, how am I? Like everybody else I suppose: Just taking one day at a time.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission