DAN WOOTTON: Don't betray your father's memory, Charles

DAN WOOTTON: Don't betray your father's memory, Charles
DAN WOOTTON: Don't betray your father's memory, Charles

In an undoubtedly trying and torrid 18 months for the British monarchy, no members of the Royal Family have seen their reputation enhanced more than Prince Edward and his wife.

Sophie Wessex provided the humanity the public was looking for immediately after Prince Philip's death, assuring us within hours of his passing, with tears in her eyes, that the 'Queen has been amazing'.

In the days that followed, it became obvious to the world just how close Edward and Sophie have become to Her Majesty.

And what's even more lovely is that they hadn't felt the need to shout about it to further their own PR for many years, understanding their role has tended to be in the background

To underline how key it's been to getting the monarch through one of the most difficult periods of her life, the affection was on display again earlier this month at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. The Queen beamed watching Edward and Sophie's daughter Lady Louise, her youngest granddaughter, compete in the carriage that once belonged to her husband.

DAN WOOTTON: Sources close to Charles have let it be known he doesn't plan to hand down Prince Philip's Duke of Edinburgh title to his youngest brother as was always promised

DAN WOOTTON: Sources close to Charles have let it be known he doesn't plan to hand down Prince Philip's Duke of Edinburgh title to his youngest brother as was always promised

Solid as a rock and low-key to a fault, the Wessexes finally had their long-awaited moment in the royal spotlight.

Once the also-rans of the family and pushed to the sidelines, the public have realised just how much Edward and Sophie have to offer.

DAN WOOTTON (pictured): Solid as a rock and low-key to a fault, the Wessexes finally had their long-awaited moment in the royal spotlight

DAN WOOTTON (pictured): Solid as a rock and low-key to a fault, the Wessexes finally had their long-awaited moment in the royal spotlight

Especially compared to the ongoing nightmare that is Prince Andrew and Fergie – likely forever exiled because of his shameful dealings over his friendship with disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – or the Californian egomaniacs Prince Harry and Meghan who now seem determined to inflict maximum damage on the monarchy.

But it seems Prince Charles – isolated in deep grief, thinking hard about the future of the Royal Family and rocked by polls showing the British public overwhelmingly don't want his wife Camilla to become Queen – hasn't particularly enjoyed the emergence of this humble new royal force.

Intent on pursuing his plan for a seriously slimmed-down monarchy following the Queen's death, sources close to Charles have let it be known he doesn't plan to hand down Prince Philip's Duke of Edinburgh title to his youngest brother, as was always promised.

To describe such a move as a devastating and cruel blow to Edward would be an understatement.

But at the weekend the story emerged publicly for the first time, with a source close to Prince Charles quoted in The Sunday Times as saying: 'The Prince is the Duke of Edinburgh as it stands, and it is up to him what happens to the title. It will not go to Edward.'

The Earl of Wessex, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Countess of Wessex at the Duke of Edinburgh Award garden party, at Buckingham Palace

The Earl of Wessex, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Countess of Wessex at the Duke of Edinburgh Award garden party, at Buckingham Palace

Ooof. Battle lines drawn.

Such a move would be Charles breaking the wishes of his father who wanted Edward to keep the Dukedom going and continue the brilliant work of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards

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