QUEEN CROWNS SOPHIE FROM COUNTESS TO PRINCESS!

THE DEPENDABLE ROYAL IS GETTING A NEW TITLE

As Prince Charles dithers over whether he’s going to fulfil his late father’s wish to bestow the Duke of Edinburgh title on his youngest brother, Prince Edward, the Queen is stepping in with a historic decision of her own.

Sources tell New Idea exclusively that Her Majesty has decided one of her final major structural changes to the monarchy will be allowing Edward’s wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, to be known as a princess.

It’s a move that was reportedly suggested by the Queen’s late husband, Prince Philip before he passed away in April. Philip really bonded with Sophie in the last few months of his life, as he taught her 17-year old daughter, Lady Louise, how to drive his pony cart.

“Philip called Sophie ‘Princess’ in private, and he made it known to the Queen before his passing that he’d like her to be publicly known as a princess,” tells a palace insider. “It was sort of an unofficial dying wish.”

Technically, Sophie, 56, became a princess when she married Edward, 57, in 1999 – though it’s usually only princesses by birth, such as Anne and the York sisters, who use the peerage.

“The Queen has come to consider Sophie a daughter in recent years,” says the source. “Sophie has been there for her for every waking minute since Philip died, and she’s become a real source of comfort and calm to Her Majesty.