Prince Edward “pleaded” with the media to “stop” as he courted his future wife Sophie, now Duchess of Edinburgh, reports have claimed.
According to the Express, one royal author detailed how the late Queen’s youngest child called for privacy.
The couple, who married in 1999, endured testing headlines just weeks before they married after an image showing Sophie topless was published.
Prince Edward in plea over wife Sophie
An account from Ingrid Seward’s biography of Edward was shared by the Express in 2021. Having met for the first time a few years previously, reports claim Sophie was the subject of several stories about her background in 1993. Furthermore, it is believed she found such scrutiny “most unnerving”.
And, according to claims about Ms Seward’s book, Edward was keen to ensure his relationship could “develop” in its own time.
He reportedly wrote a letter which read: “I am taking this unusual step of writing to you directly in the hope of stopping your reporters and photographers from destroying that part of my life that I am entitled to regard as private and more importantly, Sophie’s life.”
‘Premeditated cruelty’
A separate report from February 2022 also recounted how Sophie felt “betrayed” when The Sun printed the topless picture. According to the Express, the photo – which also showed Sophie’s then-Capital Radio colleague Chris Tarrant – was taken during a 1988 business trip.
Buckingham Palace accused the tabloid of “premeditated cruelty” and complained to the Press Complaints Commission. The Sun later admitted fault for the story, issuing an apology via the headline ‘Sorry, Sophie’.
But Sophie’s supporters had not forgotten the matter.
‘Sophie felt that she had been betrayed’
Historian Dr Anna Whitelock said in a contribution to Channel 5 documentary Edward and Sophie: The Reluctant Royals that the photo was seen as a “vile, malicious intrusion of privacy”.
Additionally, Sophie’s former employer Brian MacLaurin reportedly said at the time that her reaction was one of “distress, extreme distress”. It was also claimed Sophie felt “she was ‘letting the side down’ before her wedding”.
Mr MacLaurin added: “She felt that she had been betrayed.”
And journalist Rebecca English has also reflected on the matter: “I’ve spoken to a friend of hers who was with her when the story broke. They saw her heart break.
Sophie held her head up high. She knew she had done nothing wrong.
“But, equally, and this is an interesting aspect of Sophie’s character, she very much thought ‘the show must go on’.
“She held her head up high. She knew she had done nothing wrong.”
Read more: The Queen ‘paid Prince Edward and Sophie whopping amount to quit jobs’
Sophie: The King’s Secret Weapon? is on Channel 5 on July 8 at 9.15pm.
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