The Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie Wessex – known to be the “secret weapon” of the Royal Family continues to the UK’s efforts for sexual violence victims amid Andrew controversy.
Despite her husband Prince Edward’s health issues, King Charles III’s sister-in-law was reportedly on a two-day visit to Somalia on February 23 -24 ahead of the International Women’s Day.
She concluded her solo trip with a meeting with the president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Kenya on Tuesday, February 24.
During her solo visit, the 60-year-old royal met Somali women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence at Uganda House alongside president’s daughter Villa Somalia.
The duo heard from victims of gender and sexual based violence, before visiting Somali village in Lower Shabelle, where the wives of the soldiers explained the dangers, they face while their husbands fight.
Sophie’s visit was to highlight the support of UK’s organizations working with survivors of GBV – which has reached almost 130,000 women and girls between 2024 and 2025.
The wife of Prince Edward - who skipped royal family's major gathering at St. James Palace on Tuesday after falling ill with a cold.
This surprise two-day solo trip to Somalia came just days after Sophie's disgraced brother-in-law, Andrew was arrested by Thames Valley police over suspicion of misconduct in public office during his time at the UK's trade envoy.
The former Duke of York was released after 11 hours of investigation on allegations of leaking the UK's trade info to the late sec offender and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
