Frank Skinner on the Graham Norton Show / Sophie, Countess of Wessex smiling
Royals

Sophie, Countess of Wessex makes ‘personal apology’ after behaviour at Royal Variety performance

The incident happened in December

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Sophie, Countess of Wessex made a “personal apology” after her behaviour at the Royal Variety performance in December.

The 58-year-old made some critical comments to Frank Skinner after the performance, telling him not to “give up the day job”.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex smiling
Sophie criticised Frank Skinner last month (Credit: SplashNews.com)

What did Sophie, Countess of Wessex say to Frank Skinner?

Back in December, Frank Skinner performed ‘Three Lions’ with David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds during the show.

After the performance, Frank spoke to Sophie Wessex and her husband, Prince Edward, who were in attendance.

Speaking on Absolute Radio in December, Frank revealed that Sophie had told him not to “give up the day job”.

“It’s supposed to be just banal compliments. I said, ‘Was it that bad?’ And she said, ‘Well, you know, I could tell, you know, it’s not what you do,'” Frank said.

Frank then reportedly explained to Sophie that he and David are comedians. She then countered by saying perhaps they’re not used to live audiences.

The comedian then reportedly fired back by saying that he’d performed at London Palladium two days before.

Frank Skinner smiling at a red carpet event
Frank spoke about the incident on his radio show (Credit: CoverImages.com)

Frank Skinner talks about Sophie, Countess of Wessex criticism

The comedian continued, saying that Sophie reportedly shot him an “awkward” look after his comment.

He described it as Sophie thinking: “You’re not supposed to be arguing, I don’t think you’re supposed to be arguing with me, you’re supposed to just nod.”

He also revealed that Prince Edward had given him some criticism too. However, he couldn’t remember exactly what the Earl of Wessex had said.

It’s a bit of a skill just talking to someone for ten minutes and not upsetting them.

However, Frank argued that they weren’t “rude”, just “inexperienced”.

“I think that what’s happened is they don’t really do this stuff much, and they’ve been reduced in numbers for various reasons, and so they’ve been pulled out to do this – and it’s a bit of a skill just talking to someone for ten minutes and not upsetting them,” he said.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex smiling
Sophie apologised to Frank (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Sophie apologises to Frank

Yesterday (Sunday, February 5), during another edition of his radio show, Frank revealed that Sophie had apologised.

The royal sent the comedian a handwritten letter apologising for her comments.

“I got a very lovely note this week – unexpected – from someone I’ve talked about on the radio show,” he said.

“And I’m not going to tell you exactly what was in it, but it was lovely. And you know when the word classy springs to mind… I was quite moved by it,” he continued.

He then explained that it had come from Sophie.

“It was the most beautiful thing – handwritten and lovely. I was very pleased. It was a lovely thing, I love her now,” he said.

Read more: Royal family news: Fans issue double plea to King Charles over Sophie Wessex and Princess Kate

Earl and Countess of Wessex Arrive at Royal Variety Show

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer