Editing Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (section)

==Early life and career==
Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones was born at [[Radcliffe Infirmary]], [[Oxford]], on 20 January 1965 into a [[Social structure of the United Kingdom|middle-class]] family.<ref name="officialarchived">{{cite web |title=Background |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page2719.asp |website=The British Monarchy |publisher=Royal Household |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021064554/http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page2719.asp |access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=21 October 2004 }}</ref><ref name=TatlerWessex>{{cite web |title=How Sophie, Countess of Wessex moved from being a career PR girl to a devoted Royal stalwart |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/sophie-countess-of-wessex-interview-sunday-times-magazine |website=Tatler |date=8 June 2020 |access-date=3 March 2021 |quote=Sophie also came from a middle-class family, her mother a secretary and her father a sales director for a tyre company. |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310172258/https://www.tatler.com/article/sophie-countess-of-wessex-interview-sunday-times-magazine |url-status=live |last1=Sampson |first1=Annabel }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prince Harry's Aunt Recalls Trying to Help Meghan Markle: 'I Just Hope They Will Be Happy' |url=https://www.etonline.com/prince-harrys-aunt-recalls-trying-to-help-meghan-markle-i-just-hope-they-will-be-happy-147749 |website=Entertainment Tonight |access-date=3 March 2021 |quote=Sophie, 55, came from a middle class family and worked for a PR firm before she wed Prince Edward. |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310213104/https://www.etonline.com/prince-harrys-aunt-recalls-trying-to-help-meghan-markle-i-just-hope-they-will-be-happy-147749 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her father, Christopher Bournes Rhys-Jones (born 1931), is a retired sales director for an importer of industrial tyres and rubber goods.<ref name=TatlerWessex/> Her mother was Mary (née O'Sullivan; 1934–2005), a charity worker and secretary.<ref>{{cite news|title=PR girl turns princess|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/royal_wedding/363946.stm|access-date=14 March 2018|publisher=BBC|date=11 June 1999|quote=Her father, Christopher, the son of a teacher, is a retired salesman for a tyre maker ... Mrs Rhys-Jones, a charity worker and secretary, has her own royal connection. As a young woman she once danced with Prince Philip at a society ball.|archive-date=28 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128031606/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/royal_wedding/363946.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Countess of Wessex's mother dies| publisher=BBC| date=29 August 2005| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4194720.stm| access-date=27 October 2008| archive-date=23 October 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023153913/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4194720.stm| url-status=live}}</ref> She has an elder brother, David (born 1963), and was named after her father's sister, Helen, who died in a riding accident in 1960. Her godfather, actor [[Thane Bettany]], was her father's [[stepbrother]]; both men spent their early life in [[Sarawak]], North Borneo, then a [[British Protectorate]] ruled by the [[White Rajahs]].<ref>[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/paul_bettany_biog.html Biography of Paul Bettany] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326052907/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/paul_bettany_biog.html |date=26 March 2009 }}</ref> 

She descends from [[King Henry IV of England]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=F. |title=Sophie Wessex family tree: The shock royal in Sophie's bloodline |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1284774/sophie-wessex-family-tree-royal-family |access-date=15 August 2024 |publisher=UK Daily Express |date=20 May 2020 |quote=She is a descendant of King Edward III of England, and also of King Henry IV of England through his son Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.}}</ref> and is related to the family of the [[Viscounts Molesworth]] through her grandmother, Margaret Patricia Rhys-Jones (née Molesworth; 1904–1985), who was the great-granddaughter of the [[John Molesworth (priest)|Rev. John Molesworth]], himself the father of [[Guilford Lindsey Molesworth|Sir Guilford Molesworth]] and a great-grandson of [[Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth]].<ref>[http://www.burkespeerage.com/ ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715215802/http://www.burkespeerage.com/ |date=15 July 2007 }}, 107th edition, volume 2, 2003. pages 2720–2731.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sophie's Brush With Greatness |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sophies-brush-with-greatness-1168373 |access-date=6 May 2020 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=13 August 2007 |quote=The Countess of Wessex will come face to face with her great great great grandfather the Rev John Edward Nassau Molesworth...her ancestor['s][his] son ...solicitor's firm...set up in 1840 by the Reverend's son [solicitor] John Molesworth... |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826150252/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sophies-brush-with-greatness-1168373 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Viscount Molesworth|Robert Molesworth, 12th Viscount Molesworth]] (b.1959)  was a guest at Rhys-Jones's wedding to [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Edward]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|title=Molesworth History|url=http://molesworth.id.au/?page_id=1035|website=moleswoth.id.au| date=11 July 2017 |accessdate=6 October 2017|quote=In 1999, when I (the  Right Honourable the (12th) Viscount Robert Molesworth)  had the honour to be invited to Windsor Castle  to represent the family  at the  marriage of Prince Edward to Sophie Rhys-Jones (whose paternal grandmother was Margaret Patricia Molesworth)....}}</ref>

Rhys-Jones was raised in a four-bedroom 17th-century farmhouse in [[Brenchley]], Kent. She began her education at [[Dulwich Preparatory School]], before moving on to [[Kent College, Pembury|Kent College]], Pembury, where she was friends with Sarah Sienesi, with whom she subsequently shared a flat in [[Fulham]] and who later became her [[lady-in-waiting]]. Rhys-Jones then trained as a secretary at [[West Kent College]], [[Tonbridge]].<ref name="place">{{cite news|title=PR girl turns princess|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/royal_wedding/363946.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|date=11 June 1999|access-date=22 June 2013|archive-date=13 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113033305/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/royal_wedding/363946.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

She began a career in [[public relations]], working for a variety of firms, including four years at [[Capital Radio]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/26/1|title=Sun apologises to 'devastated' Sophie Rhys-Jones|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 May 1999|access-date=12 January 2017|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118045740/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/26/1|url-status=live}}</ref> where she was assigned to the press and promotions department, as well as public relations companies The Quentin Bell Organisation and MacLaurin Communications & Media.<ref name="career">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9370089/Countess-of-Wessex-the-Royal-Familys-latest-style-icon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9370089/Countess-of-Wessex-the-Royal-Familys-latest-style-icon.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Countess of Wessex: the Royal Family's latest style icon?|newspaper=The Telegraph|first=Hannah|last=Furness|date=2 July 2012|access-date=12 January 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She also worked as a ski representative in Switzerland and spent a year travelling and working in Australia. In 1996, Rhys-Jones launched her public relations agency, RJH Public Relations, which she ran with her business partner, Murray Harkin, for five years.<ref name="career"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/views/y/1999/06/lowrie.royals.jun17/|title=How 'sensible' and 'royal wedding' add up to 'yawn'|first=Margaret|last=Lowrie|publisher=CNN|date=20 June 1999|access-date=12 January 2017|archive-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009152809/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/views/y/1999/06/lowrie.royals.jun17/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prior to her marriage, Rhys-Jones lived at [[Coleherne Court]], London.<ref>{{cite web|title=Colherne Court in 2006 - 21st Century|url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/vmgallery/general/vm_then_now_gallery.asp?tpg=3&cpg=1&gallery=vm_then_now_old_brompton_road|publisher=[[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]]|access-date=4 January 2023|archive-date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508041231/https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/vmgallery/general/vm_then_now_gallery.asp?tpg=3&cpg=1&gallery=vm_then_now_old_brompton_road|url-status=dead}}</ref>