Edward Wessex and Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones - Dating, Gossip, News, Photos list. Help us build our profile of Edward Wessex and Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones!
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The engagement of Sophie Rhys-Jones and The Prince Edward, the youngest son of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was announced on 6 January 1999. Their wedding took place on 19 June of the same year at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, a break from the weddings of Edward's older siblings, which were large, formal events at Westminster Abbey or St Paul's Cathedral.
The couple had met six years earlier, in 1993, at a charity event, and began their relationship soon afterwards.
On the day of their marriage, The Queen declared her youngest son would eventually be created Duke of Edinburgh, once that title reverts to the Crown, ie. after both The Queen and Prince Philip die and Charles as heir apparent to his father's titles as well as those of his mother becomes King – Sophie should then assume the title of Duchess of Edinburgh. Until then The Prince Edward will be Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, the latter title reflecting his bride's Welsh origins. Upon her marriage Rhys-Jones became Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex. After the union, the couple moved to Bagshot Park, in Surrey.
In December 2001, the Countess was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital after feeling unwell, whereupon it was discovered that she was suffering from a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, on 8 November 2003. It was a premature birth, resulting from a sudden placental abruption that placed both the mother and child at risk, and the Countess had to undergo an emergency caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital, while The Earl of Wessex rushed back from Mauritius. The Countess returned to Frimley Park Hospital on 17 December 2007, to give birth, again by caesarean section, to her son, James, Viscount Severn. The children, per prior agreement between The Queen and their parents, will either not have or use (depending on interpretation) the titles of Prince and Princess, nor the style Royal Highness.
The Countess of Wessex is particularly close to her mother-in-law, The Queen, with whom she rides and shares an interest in military history. The Countess is reported to be the first of The Queen's children-in-law with whom she has enjoyed a permanently warm relationship. Due to this fact, The Countess is privileged enough to be the only member of the Royal Family to ride in the State Limousine with The Queen at Sandringham on Christmas Day.
