A royal author has shared the emotional reason why one key member of the Royal Family, opted not to attend the funeral of the late Princess Diana, with the royal family’s blessing

A royal author has revealed the ‘thoughtful’ reason why one major royal opted not to attend Princess Diana ’s funeral in 1997. Known as one of the most heartbreaking funerals of the 20th century, world said a heartbreaking farewell to the late Diana at Westminster Abbey, as billions of mourners around the world tuned in to the devastating images of a young Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind their mother’s coffin.

After her sudden death at the age of 36, the young princes grieved Diana in the church alongside their father Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth and many other members of the royal family. However, there was one member of the Firm who was notably absent from the funeral procession: Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Duchess Sophie didn’t attend Diana’s funeral due to their striking resemblance in the late 1990s(Image: Getty)

At the time of Diana’s funeral, Sophie was still Prince Edward ’s girlfriend, with the pair dating since 1993. During the mid-1990s when both Sophie and Diana came on the royal scene, the women were often pitted against each other and compared, which eventually led to a sour relationship.

Now, a new biography on the Duchess by royal author Sean Smith has revealed the reason why Sophie opted not to attend the funeral. According to the royal expert, Sophie believed it would be “too upsetting for the crowd” to see her attend the ceremony, given the striking physical resemblance between the two royal women at the time of Diana’s death.

Smith wrote: “She had an obvious and reasonable excuse: a friend at the Palace explained, ‘Sophie decided it would be too upsetting for the crowd if she went. She’s well aware that she looks like Princess Diana from a distance and made her decision in a caring and thoughtful way. The Royal Family fully supported’.”

Sophie before her wedding to Prince Edward (Image: Press Association)

Before Princess Diana’s untimely death, it had long been remarked that Sophie was a perfect doppelgänger for Diana, largely due to the fact that both women spent much of the 1990s sporting a short blonde bob hairstyle that was very popular at the time.

Smith said: “One of the reasons Sophie’s impression of Diana was so good is that they bore more than a passing resemblance to one another – a comparison neither woman enjoyed. In retrospect, Sophie having her hair clipped short in a Diana-style blonde bob was probably a mistake.

“Diana had the height and physical presence to carry it off. Fashion expert Alison Jane Reid observed, ‘Sophie looked more appealing when her hair was shoulder length and blunt cut. You could not beat Diana’s hair. It was superb’.”

Sophie had a similar blonde bob hairstyle to Princess Diana (Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

At the time, Sophie received much criticism for looking too much like Diana, with royal commentator Judy Wade declaring that Sophie should “get her own look”.

“She chose red dresses that were almost identical to things that Diana wore. She seemed to be copying Diana, and Diana was sort of partly amused and partly irritated by it,” said Judy.

Smith also claimed that Diana was annoyed by the comparison between the two women, and what seemed to be Sophie’s copying of her look. Smith alleged that when she saw Sophie approaching, Diana would say: “Oh look , here comes my double” or “Here comes Miss Goody Two Shoes”.

According to the royal author, the similarities between the two women stopped at their physical appearances, as their personalities were said to clash.

“The two women did not like each other,” Smith said. “The polite description of their relationship, as preferred by the more diplomatic of Sophie’s friends, was to say that there was ‘no love lost’ between them.”