Reportedly the late Queen’s favourite daughter-in-law, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, is celebrating her 60th birthday today. Buckingham Palace shared a new portrait to mark the special occasion, taken at Bagshot Park – Sophie’s home since her 1999 wedding to Prince Edward – by talented fashion and portrait photographer, Christina Ebenezer.
Bagshot Park was built back in 1879 for Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught – the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert – and his wife, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. They married that same year in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and went on to have three children who were all raised at the property. The Duke died at Bagshot in 1942 and, following this, the property was requisitioned by the army for use as a Staff College for the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) until the end of WWII.
Mistress of the Robes 