| PHOTO GALLERY: Sophie Brings Sunshine To Rainbow House |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | ||||
| Wednesday, 12 July 2006 | ||||
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Location: Rainbow House, Leatherhead, Surrey Date: Tuesday 11th July 2006  The Countess Of Wessex brought smiles and hugs to sick and terminally ill youngsters and their families during a visit to Rainbow House in Surrey.Part of the Rainbow Trust, the charity provides practical and emotional support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. The staff and those helped by the organisation, which was first set up in 1986, are celebrating the achievements of the past two decades, and were celarly delighted to welcome their first royal visitor to the party.  Although it is Diana who is continually referred to as the warmest royal, Sophie is equally sympathetic and is incredibly accessible. As you can see throughout these images, she was happy to pose for photographs, at times crouching down to the floor to be on the same level as the youngsters.Sadly, despite the worthiness of such a visit and, of course, charity as this, day-to-day royal engagements such as this one receive very little national coverage. Only when there is a 'scandal' and Sophie is again deemed 'newsworthy' do the wider media publish images of the woman who is now one of the Queen's closest confidantes. More than that she is a true friend and support, especially since the Queen lost her sister, Princess Margaret, and mother, Queen Elizabeth, in 2002.  Sophie has had her fair share of heartbreak and trauma, not least the time she was cruelly set up by the so-called 'Fake Sheikh', a reporter sent by the News of the World to a meeting with the Countess to try to prove she was trading on her royal connections for her business. The resulting tapes are alleged to have shown Sophie calling the Queen "the old dear" and likening herself to Diana.But as a friend of Sophie's says: "Some of the mistakes were not her fault but she hasn't whinged. She did what she knew she had to do, knuckle down properly to royal life." The Queen in particular has always supported the girl who is, without doubt, her favourite daughter-in-law (albeit Sophie is now the only one legally left, Diana having died and Sarah being divorced from Andrew and all-but estranged from the family).  Sophie has suffered her own traumas in life and so is very sympathetic to suffering, aware that a gentle touch, such as the hug she is seen giving this little boy, can make a world of difference.Palace aides are impressed by Sophie's commitment to her work, and she is genuinely liked by most, although Camilla is said to look down on her due to her 'commoner' background. In fact, the newly-married Duchess of Cornwall was said to be "indignant" when she found herself sitting across from Sophie — who's been a working member of the Royal Family since her marriage in 1999 and inside the family since 1993, when she started dating Edward — in the royal carriage at the Trooping The Colour ceremony in June 2005. The reason? Rank and status matters greatly within the Royal Family and Camilla, as wife of the future King, takes seriously her seniority to Sophie. Meanwhile, Prince Charles always believed that Sophie's business activities (since wound up, her company having gone bust) were a greater threat to the monarchy than his own often tangled love life and resulting scandals. However, Palace staff will hear nothing bad said about the former Miss Rhys-Jones, one particularly admiring aide declaring: "She is incredibly relaxed and really good at putting people at their ease, and very good to her staff."  When
she suffered a truly traumatic time during and following the birth of
her daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, on November 8th 2003, there came
acknowledgment of just how much the Queen adores her daughter-in-law.As a royal courtier explains: "The Queen is genuinely fond of her. To give one illustration: the Queen never visits anyone in hospital, because she knows it causes disruption to the staff. She didn't even visit the Queen Mother when she was in hospital. But when Sophie had Louise, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh sneaked in a private visit to Frimley Park." "At weekends, the Queen and Duke often go over from Windsor to Bagshot Park for supper."  With a wave to the cameras, Sophie departs Rainbow House having brought cheer, for a short time at least, to many of the families and the children who've tragically suffered so much in their young lives.These days, she spends an equal amount of time being, as friend admitted, a rather "over-protective" Mum to her own child, Lady Louise. The Queen's seventh grandchild is rarely seen in public, but this is a conscious decision on the part of Edward and Sophie. As a friend of the Countess explains: "She is absolutely determined Louise should enjoy a normal, private childhood. She has spoken at length with the Princess Royal, whom she believes did an incredible job of protecting Zara and Peter. Anne advised her to keep Louise away from the spotlight and that's exactly what she is doing." 'She has discussed it with the Queen, who adores her youngest grandchild, and she agrees, too." Like many women, Sophie is determined to maintain a balance between her official work and private family time with Edward and Louise. But this doesn't mean she shirks public duty, last year undertaking 205 engagements in Britain and overseas, often in her capacity as Patron or President of 42 organisations. Comment on this article
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