Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has reportedly taken on a ‘key’ role in the Royal Family and stepped up to support King Charles in his cancer battle

King Charles has found a huge source of support in Duchess Sophie (Image: Getty Images)

As King Charles grapples with cancer, he’s relying on other working royals to carry out Royal duties. One such Royal who has been seen ‘stepping up’ is the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Sophie officially joined The Firm 25 years ago when she married Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest son, the Duke of Edinburgh. In recent times, Sophie has been observed dedicating more time to high-profile engagements, including attending the Sovereign’s garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla last month, reports the Mirror.

With her growing visibility, former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond shared her predictions for Sophie’s future role with OK!: “I think we can expect Sophie to keep up or even increase her workload as the key member of the royal family she now is. She has really come into her own in recent years and is now rightly getting the recognition she deserves.”

However, Jennie highlighted that Sophie still has her ‘own family’ to think about, which could affect her Royal duties, stating: “She still has her own family to consider…her 93 year old father and her children, now 20 and 16. But she seems to be devoting more and more time to high profile royal engagements.”

King Charles has been leaning on his sister-in-law Duchess Sophie a lot in recent months (Image: (Image: Getty))

“I think she is also much admired for carrying out overseas tours, often highlighting extremely difficult subjects such as violence against women in conflict zones, without very much attendant publicity.”

“The King relies heavily on the small band of working royals he has around him…particularly since his cancer diagnosis and with Catherine out of action. This, I think, has brought him closer than ever to his youngest brother and Sophie,”.

“I think Charles will always be grateful for the huge support and affection Sophie gave to his mother, the late Queen…who came to regard her as another daughter.”

Despite the Princess of Wales’s hiatus from public duties due to treatment, she has still managed to make a couple of high-profile appearances. She was the picture of elegance during the Trooping the Colour event in June, donning a stylish white mini dress marking her first public appearance since December.

Later, at Wimbledon’s Men’s Final in July, the Duchess received a warm reception as she attended one of the sporting calendar’s standout events. The Duchess herself, in a statement shared in June, opened up about her condition, reassuring the public that although she’s progressing well, she admitted she is not out of the woods yet and is experiencing “good days and bad days” on the road to recovery.