A somber pair. Meghan Markle rode with Sophie, Countess of Wessex during the ceremonial procession for the late Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, September 14.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, and the Countess of Wessex, 57, shared a car as the queen’s coffin was moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie in state for several days until her funeral on Monday, September 19.
The Bench author and the former publicist rode in the backseat of one of several black town cars that followed the processional on Wednesday. Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry, walked alongside his brother, Prince William, with their father, King Charles III, and the king’s siblings. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also present to greet the queen’s casket on Tuesday, September 13, at Buckingham Palace.
Sophie is the wife of the queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward. The duo — who tied the knot in 1999 — share daughter Louise, 18, and son James, 14.
After Meghan and Harry, 37, gave their bombshell interview to CBS last year, Sophie and her husband, 58, brushed it off when asked about it. “What interview?” Sophie joked during a June 2021 Q&A with The Telegraph. The Earl of Wessex, for his part, quipped that he hadn’t heard about it.
When the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, died last year, Sophie gave an emotional interview about how much the royal family missed her father-in-law. The Duke of Edinburgh died at age 99 in April 2021.
“He’s left a giant-sized hole in our lives,” she said during a June 2021 appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live, noting that the coronavirus pandemic had “skewed” the way the family was coping with the loss. “I think the whole grieving process is probably likely for us to take a lot longer. … Because if you’re not living with somebody 24/7, the immediate loss isn’t necessarily felt in the same way. It’s only when you would do the normal things that you would have done with them and you suddenly realize that they are not there, that you really start to have a, ‘Oh, my goodness’ moment.”
During the procession on Wednesday, Edward walked with the king, 73, and his other siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew. The journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster marks the last time the queen’s coffin will be moved ahead of the funeral. Harry and Andrew, 62, both wore civilian clothing for the procession rather than their military uniforms.
After the Westminster Abbey ceremony on Monday, the casket will be taken to her final resting place at Windsor Castle. Philip’s coffin will also be moved so that it will lie next to Elizabeth’s. When he died last year, he was interred in the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, but the location was never meant to be his final resting place.
Keep scrolling for more photos of Meghan and Sophie during the procession.
