Sophie Wessex has opened up about her health after a scary experience with the menopause when she was on a royal engagement.
The Countess of Wessex previously revealed she suffered from memory loss while going through the change, which lead to some unsettling moments.
The 57-year-old royal, who is the subject of Edward & Sophie: The Reliable Royals, spoke about the issue last year. She was at an event for charity Wellbeing of Women, of which she is a patron.
Sophie Wessex on health scare
She said: “You suddenly can’t remember what on earth it was you were talking about.
“Try being on an engagement when that happens. Your words just go.
“And you’re standing there going, ‘Hang on, I thought I was a reasonably intelligent person’. What has just happened to me?”
Sophie, who is married to King Charles’ youngest brother, Prince Edward, described the menopause as a “shackle”.
She added: “It’s like someone has just gone and taken your brain out for however long before they pop it back in again, and you try and pick up the pieces and carry on.”
“Really, we should be celebrating the fact that we don’t have to have periods anymore. It should be a liberation. But it feels like it’s a shackle. Because it’s been described as something that’s incredibly negative.”
And although she thinks it should be a time to mark the end of periods, it carries a certain stigma.
Menopause stigma
Sophie went on: “And, one, yes it’s an admittance of the fact that we’re getting a bit older; we’re not as young as we were before. We’re not being, to use the word ‘productive’.
“We’re past that stage, which is quite a moment, isn’t it?”
Sophie also explained how she believes women should be taught about it at a young age.
“How much are young girls actually told at the beginning?” she asked.
“When we’re told that we’re going to begin our periods, are we told that they’re going to end as well?
“We don’t want to have those conversations whilst we are in the zone of being young and having children and everything and then all of a sudden you’re going, ‘Oh my god, what’s going on, how did this happen?'”
Read more: Princess Kate on ‘pride’ over passion she shares with Countess of Wessex
Edward and Sophie: The Reliable Royals airs on Channel 5 on Saturday, January 21 at 6.05pm.
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