One member of the Firm has earned a reputation as a secret weapon thanks to her hard work and international influence, which brought her to Ukraine for a key visit in 2024

Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, “get on very well” with a Royal Family member branded a “secret weapon” who it is said the future King has big plans for.

The Prince and Princess, the two centrepiece royals of The Firm, have led the family into the new year following a turbulent 2024 in which both Kate and King Charles III received devastating cancer diagnoses. While they remained senior figures representing the royals, their months-long health battles meant they had to step back from a selection of duties while they recovered.

That didn’t mean the Royal Family took it easy, however, as a large number of official visits were undertaken by other senior family members. One of them has been credited as a “secret weapon” who both royal leaders and members of the British public hold in high esteem.

William and Kate are reportedly big fans of Sophie and her husband ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
The Times reports that William and Kate “get on very well” with Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and her husband Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh. A Palace source told the paper their appreciation of the couple may mean that, when William does eventually take the throne, both will be asked to play more prominent roles in representing the Royal Family.

William will reportedly be eager for his aunt and uncle to take point in key areas, with Sophie having become especially popular and well-regarded since she officially joined the family in 1999. Praise has been heaped on the hardworking royal, who undertakes a wide range of duties on behalf of royals.

Ingrid Seward, the editor of Majesty magazine and Edward’s biographer, said the royal is opposed to being credited solely for her success as a senior member, however. She told the Times: “With Sophie, it’s not all about her. She was one of the first ‘outsiders’ who came into the royal family and realised it’s about all of ‘them’ working together as a team.

Princess Kate and the King were both battling cancer through much of 2024 ( 
Image:
POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“She really gets that and doesn’t want praise heaped on her.” Sophie has epitomised the meaning of “soft power” and helped extend the Royal Family’s influence overseas in recent years, notably travelling to Ukraine to visit fighters and government representatives last year.

But she characteristically dismissed the high praise when she returned, commending the “brave people” of the country in her own piece for the Times. She wrote: “Many people have said how brave or courageous I was for going. I am neither. The brave people are those who have endured extreme violence and survived.

“The courageous are those who have reported the crimes committed against them.”