Prince Philip’s death has left ‘giant-sized hole’ in royal family, says Sophie Wessex
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The Countess of Wessex has opened up about how she and other members of the royal family are grieving the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Philip died on 9 April at Windsor Castle at the age of 99.
Speaking to Naga Munchett on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sophie, 56, explained that she is still grappling with the loss.
“He has left a giant-sized hole in our lives,” she said before going on to explain how, due to the coronavirus pandemic, her family has not been able to spend as much time together as they would have liked.
“I think, unfortunately the pandemic has slightly slewed things in that it’s hard to spend as much time with the Queen as we would like to.
“We’ve been trying to, but of course it’s still not that easy.”
Sophie went on to explain how grieving Prince Philip has been particularly tough due to coronavirus restrictions.
“And of course the normal way of things isn’t normal yet,” she said.
“So we’re not necessarily doing the things that we would normally have done with him.”
She went on to explain how their grief might take longer to process due to the pandemic.
“I think the whole grieving process is probably likely for us to take a lot longer. It may be the same for many other families out there,” she said.
“Because if you’re not living with somebody 24/7, the immediate loss isn’t necessarily felt in the same way, as if somebody was in the house with you all the time.
“It’s only when you would do the normal things that you would have done with them, and you suddenly realise that they are not there, that you really start to have an ‘oh my goodness’ moment.
“Just talking to you now, it’s a bit of an ‘oh my goodness’ moment,” she added, holding back tears.
The Duke would have celebrated his 100th birthday on 10 June this year, just two months after his death.
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