Sophie grew up on Homestead Farmhouse in Brenchley, Kent, before marrying Prince Edward in 1999. Now the royal couple live in Bagshot Park in Surrey, but Sophie’s childhood home has been praised as the ideal Christmas retreat. Sophie and Edward are expected to be one of two households to join the Queen and Prince Philips Christmas bubble this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A HELLO! Magazine report detailed Homestead Farmhouse, and hailed the Grade-II listed building.
Sophie’s parents, Christopher and Mary Rhys-Jones, sold the property in 2001 for £600,000 with estate agents suggesting it is now worth around a massive £1 million.
The 17th century farmhouse hosts four bedrooms inside, and sports thatched roofs.
Reports at the time of Sophie and Edward’s engagement claimed property value in Brenchley surged by an average of 171 percent.
READ MORE: Sophie, Countess of Wessex’s ‘confident’ body language has ‘settling effect’ on Edward
The report follows the Queen and Philip having to curb their annual Christmas traditions over coronavirus restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued guidelines last week that state three households can mix from December 23 to December 27.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman confirmed the monarch will be having a quiet holiday in Windsor Castle, snubbing Sandringham Estate for the first time in 33 years.
She added: “Having considered all the appropriate advice, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have decided that this year they will spend Christmas quietly in Windsor.”
A Palace source also said to the Daily Mirror: “The Queen is acutely aware of the need for caution throughout the crisis and the Christmas period is no different.
“The Queen and The Duke are fortunate to spend Christmas with their family every year. They understand that their family will have competing demands over the Christmas period and are content to have a quiet festive season this year.”
Sophie and Edward are expected to be one of the two households joining the Queen’s Christmas bubble in Windsor.
Richard Eden, a royal expert, wrote in the Daily Mail that a royal source confirmed “Prince Edward and his family will be one of the two in her bubble”.
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Robert Jobson, royal journalist and author also told the Telegraph Sophie and the Queen share a special relationship.
He said: “She is probably the best example of an outsider coming into the family and learning on the job.
“She’s very much the Queen’s favourite, and you’ll notice that whenever there is a family holiday or gathering, Sophie and Edward often stay a while longer than the rest.”
When the UK’s first national lockdown ended in June, Sophie and Edward were the first royals to visit the Queen and Philip at Balmoral Castle.
Both Sophie and Edward were gifted their Bagshot Park home by the Queen as a wedding present.
Other royals tipped to be included in the monarch’s Christmas bubble include Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as well as Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
A royal insider said to the Sun about the Queen’s Christmas plans at Windsor: “Nothing has been resolved as staff are still refusing to quarantine from their families.
“So it’s looking almost certain they can’t have Christmas inside the big house at Sandringham.”
