Sophie Wessex makes history as she leaves family home in Surrey to travel abroad
October 04, 2022 - 08:09 BST Gemma Strong Sophie Wessex has returned to her royal duties – and she's making history in the process!The Countess – who has been married to Prince Edward since 1999 – has left her husband and their two children for a very special overseas visit.Sophie, 57, has become the first member of the royal family to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Buckingham Palace confirmed this week.
It is a subject close to Sophie's heart. She has campaigned on the issue for many years, travelling to countries including Kosovo, Lebanon, South Sudan and Sierre Leone to meet women peacebuilders and survivors of sexual violence.MORE: Sophie Wessex has sweet maternal moment – and sparks a big fan response
"When you hear somebody's story of gang rape and literally physically what has happened to them, it absolutely brings you to your knees," Sophie said in a wide-ranging interview with BBC Radio 5 Live's Nada Munchetty."And I had tears falling off my face as she was talking to me. I was completely silent, but I was just in floods of tears."
"This lady was, I'm guessing, probably in her 70s," she recalled."But the country I was in had conflict going back for generations, and so I wasn't sure whether or not she was going to talk to me."But all of a sudden she got up slowly and wanted to speak to me. And she opened her mouth and started to tell me exactly what had happened.