Kate Middleton had 'tower of strength' in Duchess Sophie during cancer journey

For many people, January signals a fresh start and the Princess of Wales has been feeling reflective, marking her 44th birthday with a video paying tribute to nature and expressing how "deeply grateful" she is. Kate's big day came just before the one-year anniversary of her announcing she was in remission and whilst she's spoken of how much Prince William supported her throughout her treatment, he's not the only royal who rallied around her.

The Princess is widely reported to have called Duchess Sophie a "tower of strength" and royal expert Jennie Bond can easily envision how much "comfort" she'd have been.

"I'm sure it's been a comfort for the princess to know that Sophie was on hand during the last difficult couple of years. After all, Sophie had her own serious health problems with an ectopic pregnancy and then a very difficult birth," the former BBC Royal Correspondent explained.

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Jennie believes the two women have a "lot in common" and thinks the Duchess of Edinburgh was an "invaluable mentor" for the Princess as she learned the ropes of royal life. Nowadays they're both highly experienced and their bond has evolved, moving away from an aunt/niece mentoring relationship into a close friendship.

The expert said, "I think they're now much more like friends than aunt and niece, and the two of them have established a very solid friendship which will serve our future Queen well in years to come."

"Life has thrown these two women together quite randomly, and landed them on what must have seemed like an alien planet at first," Jennie also shared recently. "The rest of us can only imagine what it must be like to find yourself suddenly inside palace walls."

Sophie and Kate might not typically do engagements together but when they're at royal events like Ascot or the Order of the Garter ceremony they're often spotted chatting together. Their age-gap friendship has flourished (the Duchess is 17 years older) and coming from similar backgrounds might have helped cement it.

Both of them dated their now-husbands for many years before marrying into the Royal Family and had middle-class upbringings. They have a knack for connecting with people and showing the relatable side of the royals, all whilst raising their children.

The traditional royal "stiff upper lip" has become a thing of the past in recent years, partly thanks to the two women. From Kate's unfaltering honesty about her cancer treatment to Sophie laying a comforting arm on her back on Remembrance Sunday in 2024, they aren't afraid to show emotion or let their guard down in public.

The Wales and Edinburgh families are based near each other, with Kate and William now settled at Forest Lodge and Prince Edward and Sophie living at Bagshot Park a 15 minute drive away. It helps when your friends live close by and their kids are understood to get on well.

Lady Louise Windsor reportedly taught Princess Charlotte how to draw at Balmoral when she was younger and Kate has seemingly got a few tips from Sophie's parenting approach.

"Kate is said to admire the way Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, are raising their children [Louise and James, Earl of Wessex] in the bosom of the Royal Family but prepared for life in the real world," Katie Nicholl alleged in her book, The New Royals.