{"id":70221,"date":"2025-09-17T20:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/70221\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T20:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:25:08","slug":"why-prince-edward-and-sophie-duchess-of-edinburgh-skipped-trumps-second-state-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/70221\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh Skipped Trump\u2019s Second State Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British royal family was out in full force at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening for the unprecedented second State Visit for U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>. But there were a few notable absences: Chief among them were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Prince Edward was already absent on Tuesday at the funeral of Katharine, Duchess of Kent<\/a>. His wife, Sophie, attended the services at Westminster Cathedral in London.<\/p>\n

\"TheKarwai Tang\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kate and Sophie at the funeral yesterday.<\/p>\n

Most of the extended family was there, including King Charles, although Queen Camilla also missed the requiem massed while recovering from acute sinusitis<\/a>. The Duke of Edinburgh had been representing the King on a formal visit to Papua New Guinea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PNG-BRITAIN-DIPLOMACY-ROYALS\"ANDREW KUTAN\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh inspects the guard of honour upon his arrival at Port Moresby International Airport.<\/p>\n

But that was only the beginning of Prince Edward\u2019s travels this week. As of Thursday, he will be in Japan for another royal visit, where the Duchess of Edinburgh will join him in Osaka. They will represent King Charles in Osaka, with a focus on strengthening the bilateral relationship between Britain and Japan while visiting the UK and Japanese pavilions at the EXPO 2025, a public showcase on designing empowering technologies. The Duke and Duchess will be in Japan until Monday, September 22<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sophie has a reputation for being one of the hardest working members<\/a> of the royal family, and she has kept a busy schedule over the last few weeks since coming back from summer vacation in Scotland, where the royals spend their annual retreat at Balmoral Castle<\/a>. She recently returned to the UK after a four-day official visit to Canada. The solo trip included visits with local veterans groups, an equestrian center, and service dog training facility<\/a>. Back in London, the Duchess hosted a meeting last week for Gender Action for Peace and Security<\/a>, a network of British organizations that supports women and girls affected by war and conflict. And ahead of the weekend, Sophie also took in the races at the Cornbury House Horse Trials in Oxfordshire, which her niece Zara Tindall also attended<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Rachel King (she\/her) is a news writer at\u00a0Town & Country. Before joining\u00a0T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at\u00a0Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in\u00a0Forbes,\u00a0Observer,\u00a0Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and\u00a0Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at\u00a0@rk.passport<\/a>.<\/p>\n