Duchess Sophie's comforting gesture to Kate Middleton on Remembrance Sunday spoke volumes - and it could be repeated

There are few times we see the Royal Family openly show as much emotion in public than they do at the National Service of Remembrance each November. Last year, Duchess Sophie was seen laying a comforting arm on the Princess of Wales's back as they turned to leave the central balcony at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office afterwards.

She had originally been set to stand on the neighbouring balcony, but when Queen Camilla was forced to pull out of her appearance due to a chest infection, the arrangements were switched. This way, Kate wasn't left standing alone in what was her first official appearance since announcing she had completed cancer treatment.

Sophie's gesture was a small moment, yet it highlighted the closeness of her bond with Kate and it's something we could potentially see again at the service this year.

Royal author Ingrid Seward has described the move as "something you wouldn't have seen a few years ago". Discussing this last November, she's quoted as saying, "The royals have always shown a human side but there is more warmth now", before adding that "Sophie is like the older sister Kate never had".

In Ingrid's view, the Duchess of Edinburgh would likely have been "there in the background" as part of her niece-in-law's "private support network" as Kate underwent treatment.

The two women come from similar backgrounds and Sophie will know all-too-well the challenges the Princess of Wales is facing as she raises children in the royal spotlight, whilst being committed to giving them as much normalcy and privacy as possible.

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Both women also dated their respective husbands for quite a while before becoming a member of the Royal Family. Ingrid believes that this will have given Sophie and Kate "more knowledge than royal brides before them" about "what they were getting into".

If anyone would be a source of comfort to the Princess of Wales at the Remembrance Sunday service on 9th November, it surely would be the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Usually only the most senior royal women stand on the central balcony and this would be Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales. In the past there have been three of them, though, as Queen Elizabeth, Camilla and Kate all stood together in the past. Who stands on which balcony is determined by order of royal precedence.

Even if Duchess Sophie does end up standing separately for the 2025 Remembrance Service, their "sisterly" bond perhaps suggests that she'll be quick to offer comfort and support to the Princess in private and vice versa.

The royal women tend to be the ones standing on the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, whilst the royal men lay wreaths at the Cenotaph Memorial below.

There are notable exceptions to this, as Princess Anne tends to take part in the wreath-laying ceremony and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent often stand on the balcony.