'I met Duchess Sophie and she showed her true feelings straight away'

Duchess Sophie is widely regarded as one of the most beloved figures within the Royal Family . In a 2026 poll, she was placed sixth amongst the nation's favourites, with Princess Kate claiming the top spot. She has even reportedly served as a "mentor" to the Princess of Wales , frequently being hailed as the Firm's "secret weapon". Now, a former royal aide has lifted the lid on how Sophie revealed her true character at their very first encounter. Ailsa Anderson served as press secretary to Queen Elizabeth between 2001 and 2013, and was brought in to assist Prince Edward and Sophie in the wake of a sting operation carried out by the so-called "fake sheikh". Sophie allegedly made disparaging remarks about senior politicians and members of the Royal Family, though Buckingham Palace condemned the media coverage at the time. Around the same period, it emerged that Edward's production company had dispatched a two-man film crew in an attempt to film Prince William at university. The then-Prince Charles was reportedly "incandescent with rage" following the incident. Recalling the moment she first encountered Sophie and Edward on Channel 5's Royal Peacemaker: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Anderson said: "I remember meeting Sophie for the first time and walking through the door and I was quite nervous.", reports the Express . "I had not met her before and she was a very famous member of the Royal Family so I was nervous. I shouldn't have been, she was absolutely lovely to me, it was like sitting down and chatting to a friend. "She was clearly quite bruised and vulnerable, so that was a side to her that you don't really see in public. The position at that time was pretty dire, it was pretty brutal." Both Sophie and Edward agreed to step away from their careers in 2002 and become full-time working royals. They then undertook a series of official engagements to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. In March, Sophie appeared alongside Alaina MacGregor, the CEO of British Blind Sport, on their Golden Legacy Series podcast to discuss life as a working royal. She spoke openly about how she supports King Charles and the strides that have been made in disability sports. During the frank conversation, the duchess said: "My role, as with all members of the family, is to primarily support the King and the monarchy. That is one side of the focus. But also, we're lucky enough to be able to fulfil our passions and our interests and these over my time as a member of the royal family have developed." Sophie acts as patron of more than 70 charities and organisations, with a significant portion of her charitable work focused on promoting women's safety and backing initiatives to tackle sexual violence both in the UK and abroad. She said: "One of the things I'm doing now is on women's peace and security in the world . We have the most incredible women who work within communities at all levels of society, and they are often at the frontline of ensuring that peace is secure, that their communities are looked after, and also we try to get them around the peacekeeping tables as much as possible. "Aside from that, also the very sad problem the world is dealing with, the issue of conflict-related sexual violence." Sophie revealed that her work frequently takes her to "difficult countries" as she strives to shine a light on global issues. In 2024, she made history by becoming the first senior royal to set foot in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.