Former Countess of Wessex on the significance of new title
She became Duchess of Edinburgh after King Charles granted her husband, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh title in 2023, fulfilling his parents' wishes and recognising Edward's dedication to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
These remarks were made during her visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Sophie commented on her role, stating she prefers to "fly under the radar" but acknowledges her increasing visibility due to fewer working members of the Royal Family.
During her visit, she met mothers of genocide victims and delivered a message from the King, who expressed his regret at not being able to attend in person.
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Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
From an abusive father to romantic heartbreak, Jelena Dokic is finally getting the love she deserves - as details emerge about her new handsome boyfriend
Jelena Dokic has found love again after she was left 'shattered' in the aftermath of her split from her long-time boyfriend, Tin Bikic, in 2021. The tennis champ, 42, revealed last year she was 'closed off' after the heartbreaking experience. It was another blow to her heart after the years-long abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, Damir Dokic. But things are looking up for Jelena. Yane Veselinov has captured the heart of the Australian sports commentator, with the pair confirming their relationship on Monday in a sweet Instagram post. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The pair were first spotted cuddling up together at Melbourne Airport in May, with Jelena unable to wipe the grin off her face as she accepted an embrace from Yane. A glance at Yane's social footprint reveals he relocated to Melbourne after previously living in Sydney and Perth. Like Jelena, Yane is from the Balkans and is Macedonian. He has a brother named Vladimir and a sister named Mihaela, as well as a mother, Dragica, who currently lives in Skopje, North Macedonia. Yane proudly became an Australian citizen late last year, announcing the news on November 14 with a celebratory post. 'Today I made a pledge to this beautiful country that I will obey all of the laws and respect the political and democratic views,' he wrote. 'To be honest and independent Australian—thank you so much Australia for giving me the BEST... it's official, I'm an Aussie!' Jelena's new love works as a Hospitality Operations Manager, and specialises in 'creating magical moments and orchestrating flawless events'. According to his LinkedIn account, Yane has been the Operations Manager at Wine and Cheese Fest since November 2018. Before that, he had a brief eight-month stint at Food & Desire and worked as the Events Manager at The Malthouse Theatre from 2021 to 2022. Yane also held a position as a Marketing Consultant at Numero IX from 2020 to 2021, and a Managing Partner at Casual Dining Concepts from 2015 to 2018 in Sydney. The first job he has listed in Australia was in Perth as the Events Manager for Portofinos Restaurant and Function Centre from 2011 to 2015. Yane's Instagram is filled with photos of food and trips to art exhibits and concerts throughout Melbourne. He also appears to have a love of tennis, attending the Australian Open in 2020. He states in his bio he is a 'food and wine enthusiast', 'pleasure seeker', and 'life enjoyer'. Jelena went Instagram official with Yane on Monday. The sports commentator shared a loved-up photo of the pair to social media alongside a sweet caption. Jelena gushed over her new man, writing: 'You are my calm, safe, peaceful and happy place. So glad I found you.' Yane also shared the picture to his Instagram Stories just a few hours later, captioning it with, 'My all,' alongside a series of heart-face emojis. The couple were first spotted together at Melbourne Airport back in May. Jelena was seen exiting her flight and grinning broadly as she accepted a warm embrace from her bearded man and entered the terminal. Late last year, Jelena revealed she had been 'closed off' to finding love ever since she split from her long-time Brazilian boyfriend, Tin. The couple were together for almost 19 years before announcing they had ended their relationship in 2021. Despite saying her walls have been up ever since, Jelena took to Instagram to make the heartbreaking admission that she was 'scared of being alone' for the rest of her life. 'Love. It's been a challenging personal period. We don't talk about this enough but relationship breakdowns are so tough,' she said alongside a selfie. 'And if you have been the one left hurt or abandoned then let's be honest, it's just life-shattering. And as you get older, it only gets tougher with more scars, pain and hurt. 'My 19-year relationship ended 4 years ago and while we will always care for each other, especially because we were together since we were 20, that chapter is over.' Jelena went on to say she was 'built' to love one person 'unconditionally and so fully that it gets me in trouble'. 'It turns into heartbreak and pain,' she added. 'I put up walls 4 years ago and I said they are never coming down. 'But as life likes to show us, not everything we plan or think will happen actually does. So, of course, someone brought those walls down and I got hurt. Badly. 'So, I guess the question is: Do we keep our walls down and hope love comes along? Or do we never give it a chance again and don't allow the walls to come down? 'There are people that will have different answers. I have now been alone and closed off for 4 years and I still don't know what the answer is.' The Australian tennis commentator said she now has 'a lot of abandonment issues' from her past, which make her 'feel like I will be alone forever'. Jelena was referring to the horrendous abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and tennis coach, Damir. 'Am I the only one scared of being alone for the rest of my life?' the media personality candidly asked her fans.' 'Bringing walls down has also brought some feelings and triggers I never had before and I don't know how to react or what to do,' Jelena continued in the lengthy missive. 'Bottom line is it's tough and what do we do? Close ourselves off forever or get hurt and feel pain in order to one day maybe feel that unbelievable and crazy love again?' Jelena ended her searching questions by saying she had come down on the side of hope and openness. 'I will never give up and one day those walls will come down again and hopefully the wait, pain, hurt and disappointment will be worth it and I will find that amazing love,' she said. It certainly seems Jelena has found her 'amazing love', just as other aspects of her life have also begun to fall into place. The former athlete went under the radar after her retirement from professional tennis in 2014, only to come back few years later and become just as successful in media. She quickly became a prominent face in tennis commentary, landing a role with Fox Sports at the Australian Open in January 2017. The same year, she published an autobiography, Unbreakable, about her life, career, and the years of physical and mental abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. It topped the Australian book charts on its first day of release and inspired a documentary film about her life in 2024. She published another book in 2023, Fearless: Finding the Power to Thrive, which also tells the story of how she survived poverty, trauma, and family violence. Jelena is now a commentator and expert analyst for Channel Nine at Wimbledon. She has also been sharing her recent weight-loss journey with fans after shedding 20kg in ten months, following a two-decade-long battle with an eating disorder.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
King Charles and Prince Harry aides 'peace summit' part of 'charm offensive by the Sussexes to turn around their negative public image'
A meeting between King Charles and Prince Harry 's senior aides came amid a charm offensive by the Sussexes to turn around their negative public image, the Mail understands. Harry and Meghan's new chief of communications, Meredith Maines, met with Tobyn Andreae, the King's communications secretary, at the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) a three-minute walk from Clarence House, the monarch's London residence on Wednesday. Also present was Liam Maguire, who runs the Sussexes' PR team in the UK. Images of the rendezvous raised hopes of a reconciliation between Harry, 40, and his father, 76. The extraordinary summit came after Ms Maines, who is head of Harry's household in Montecito, California, flew to the UK earlier in the week for a series of meetings alongside Mr Maguire, their new 'UK and Europe communications manager'. These included British business and charitable partners, as well as a host of London-based press and television journalists. Their itinerary suggests that the couple - Harry in particular - are launching a new charm offensive on the UK in a bid to turn around their negative public image. The Mail understands it was subsequently suggested that a meeting with Buckingham Palace's director of communications, Mr Andreae, might be possible while Ms Maines was in the UK. This is not as surprising as it might initially seem. The extraordinary summit came after Ms Maines, who is head of Harry's household in Montecito, California, flew to the UK earlier in the week for a series of meetings alongside Mr Maguire, their new 'UK and Europe communications manager (pictured) Even after the Sussexes' acrimonious departure from the Royal family, tentative 'lines of communication' were kept open between the palace press office and the duke and duchess' PR team on occasional matters of importance. However in recent years these have all but dwindled out in the wake of Harry's repeated and increasingly vitriolic attacks on his family, as well as the institution of the monarchy. His latest, with the BBC, in which he blamed his recent decisive defeat in the British courts over his ongoing security in the UK on an 'establishment stitch-up' and insensitively raised the issue of how long his father has to live, went down extremely badly in royal circles. While understandably wary, it is understood that the palace believed a tentative meeting was sensible in the circumstances - if only to re-open those channels once again with yet another new Sussex PR team, following another series of enforced departures both in California and the UK. There was 'considerable surprise' and a 'weary resignation' amongst senior courtiers to see details and pictures of Wednesday's meeting, which was such a closely-guarded secret, published in the media at the weekend. Senior officials on all sides have repeatedly declined to say whether Prince William's team at Kensington Palace were aware that the meeting was going ahead, even if they were not represented. One source stressed to the Mail that the relationship between father and son was 'inevitably different' to that of the siblings. It has also been noted that while angry and not wishing at present to make any sort of personal overtures to his brother, William has on a number of occasions over the years made magnanimous gestures of kindness towards him, despite huge provocation, including inviting Harry and Meghan to meet mourners and collect flowers at Windsor Castle following the death of Queen Elizabeth. A source said the summit was only the 'first step towards reconciliation between Harry and his father, but at least it is a step in the right direction' Harry is next due back in the UK in September for the annual WellChild events, raising the prospect of meeting his father for the first time in 18 months. The 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham is another opportunity for a public reconciliation. The Duke is said to have sent email invitations to Buckingham Palace in the hope that it will give the King sufficient time to fit the event into his busy schedule. While the meeting was significant, it is understood it was largely to 'open a channel of communication' after Harry said in a BBC interview his father would not speak to him, and to discuss how to avoid media clashes and conflicts around calendar dates. Harry and Meghan are said to be frustrated after the meeting was caught on camera in pictures published by the Mail on Sunday. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex denied leaking details of the rendezvous.
Times
8 hours ago
- Times
A secret meeting, a photo, next a reunion for King Charles and Harry?
Leaks, he's known a few. Prince Harry, that is. A close reading of his autobiography would suggest that there are so many leaks at the Palace that the Windsors risk sinking without trace. Harry rails against a spin doctor who leaked 'the details of our private summits with Camilla' before her wedding to Charles. He is furious that a plan for him and Meghan to move to South Africa 'got leaked and scuppered' and he accuses Palace staff of attempting to 'sabotage' his relationship with Meghan by 'leaking private stuff to the press about Meg and me'. Now a 'peace summit' between Harry's PR team and the King's spokesman has been leaked. Images of the meeting were splashed across a Sunday newspaper — a sign, for some, that the ice was thawing in the long-running feud between Harry and the royal family. Or his father, at least. There were two particularly interesting things about the summit: the first being that it happened at all, given the animosity between the Sussexes and the rest of the family in the five years since they quit royal duties. The second most interesting thing is that the 'pap' pictures of the meeting appeared. Let's deal with them in reverse order. Assuming it wasn't a good old-fashioned journalist's tip, whoever tipped off the press would have had a goal in mind. But it's not entirely clear who the information serves. Harry is understood to be 'sanguine' about the pictures. After all, that's what he has come to expect. His aides, meanwhile, say they are 'frustrated' about the leak. That would point towards the only other party present at the meeting. There's only one problem with that; the Palace is not known for benevolently dishing out such delicious nuggets of gossip to the Sunday papers. • Behold the 'secret' royal summit. Is a Charles and Harry reunion next? The meeting itself was otherwise nondescript — or at least it was meant to be. A chance for both sides to start up 'a new open channel of communication', according to Harry's side. In May, Harry opened up his own channel of communication — via a primetime interview on the BBC. The Palace was not given advance warning. The BBC had expected the duke to deliver a short statement after his defeat in the courts over his long-running bid to have his police security reinstated in the UK. Instead, they got a 30-minute stream of consciousness in which Harry simultaneously set out his stall as the injured party and launched what appeared to be another insult, saying that 'some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book'. He added: 'Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things.' It sounded petulant and it felt like another attack, but it was the first time we'd heard Harry articulate a eureka moment; that it was his family's role to forgive him, not the other way round. He went on: 'I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight any more. As I said, life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has. He won't speak to me because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.' On Wednesday that process appeared to begin. Charles and Camilla returned to London after bidding farewell to President Macron and his wife, Brigitte. The Queen had just headed off to Wimbledon and the King had finished hosting a reception with his Tour Artists at Buckingham Palace. Late afternoon, Tobyn Andreae, the King and Queen's communications secretary, left the Palace to keep a commitment at the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL). The club, of which the King is patron, was a seemingly appropriate setting for a meeting with his PR counterparts from Harry's office, given that the club 'champions international friendship across the world'. Andreae's guests were Meredith Maines, Harry's communications officer and head of his household in Montecito, and Liam Maguire, his PR representative in the UK. Maines was over from the US for a few days and had set up meetings with various London contacts, all with the duke's blessing. The Times has learnt that there was no instruction from Harry for her to contact the Prince of Wales's office. Buckingham Palace, however, was contacted and agreed to a meeting. When the King's spokesman arrived at the club, Harry's aides were already waiting inside. Andreae brought a bottle of wine as a gift for Maines. Should they sit outside or in? The decision was taken, ironically it now seems, to sit outside for fear of being overheard within. On a balcony overlooking Green Park, the conversation began but within ten minutes Maguire had spotted a photographer. He alerted Andreae and the three moved back inside to continue the meeting there. On Saturday night the mystery of the photographer in the bushes was revealed when Andreae had a call from the Mail on Sunday alerting him to the story. He duly informed Harry's team. So, how did they know? And who does it suit? While a social media commentator has remarked that Andreae 'is giving main character energy' he much prefers to be in the background, leaving the 'main character' role to 'the boss', aka the King, and 'the lady boss', aka the Queen. Similarly Maguire, put in post a few weeks ago after the sudden departure of two of Harry's former press officers, appears to enjoy a low profile. A former military man, Maguire has known Harry for several years through his work as a trustee for Blesma, the charity for limbless veterans. Meanwhile, Maines was on a short visit to London and Andreae was just one of several on her list of people to meet. In a previous role she reportedly ruled publicity for the Netflix series The Crown with 'an iron fist'. So, was it leaked and why? Both sides claim innocence. Which brings us to the issue of why the meeting occurred at all. What many don't realise, however, is that the meeting was the result of years of trying on Harry's part to reconnect with the royal family. This latest attempt is the closest he has got so far, which is probably worth a picture. So, why was a meeting granted now? From the King's perspective, it helps that Harry's court case against His Majesty's government has come to an end. Charles cannot be co-opted into saying anything about a case where his son is using his father's courts to sue his father's government about a security decision. With that out of the way, the King is more open to hearing what his younger son has to say. There's another reason too. When Harry's book Spare was published, the duke told Tom Bradby in a television interview that he wanted an apology from the royal family for all the hurt they had caused him and his wife. This repeated demand meant that any possible meeting with the Palace was doomed to fail and promptly rejected. A source described the negotiations as including 'untenable demands from the American side'. The King couldn't possibly be left open to a tirade of abuse from his younger son, particularly after his cancer diagnosis. But now it appears that Harry has changed his objective. He is no longer publicly demanding an apology. A source who has known Harry well for several decades said: 'He appears to be softening on his demand for an apology now. There seems to be a realisation that this is not going to be granted. The meeting may have been a chance to put it all behind them and move on.' This concession on Harry's part appears to have opened a channel whereby the Palace is prepared to meet him. 'Harry has made no secret of the fact that he wants to be reconciled,' says a well-placed source. 'And he knows that talking and communication is by far the best way to go ahead.' In other words, the damaging accusations — and threats of more to come — are now in the past. Or so they say. Perhaps he is finally growing up, knowing that the door is likely to be permanently shut to him when his brother, Prince William, becomes king. Others are less charitable. A well-placed observer described the meeting and its subsequent publicity as a 'desperate' attempt of the duke to get back into the royal fold. With no discernible job, other than that of a supporting role to his highly driven and successful wife, Harry may well be realising what he has given up. He has said that he was left 'devastated' by the decision to leave his charity Sentebale, along with his co-founder and all the trustees, after a row with the chair. Yet he still clings to what he has always known. Maines's title, as head of Harry's 'household', suggests that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have no interest in divorcing themselves from their previous royal lives. They continue to use their duke and duchess titles, as is their right. They are not, however, permitted to use their HRH titles. Meghan appeared to overstep when 'HRH' was used on a card sent to a friend as a personal gift. Whether their children, Archie and Lilibet, will use their prince and princess titles will surely be a matter for them. All this is to say that a very public link with the royal household is no bad thing for the Sussexes, at least from a PR perspective. Could the publicity help his case or at least show his brother that he is serious about reconciliation? It doesn't hurt the King either, whose reluctance to see his son baffled some commentators. Similarly, the King comes across well from the meeting. But whether such a febrile truce can withstand such a major breach of discretion is uncertain. The meeting is said to have 'opened the channel of communication' between father and son for the first time in months. It is probably what Harry should have done in the first place rather than trying to have a dialogue through television networks, a million-dollar book deal and various podcasts and interviews. But it prompts the question: what does Harry want? He clearly wants to see his father, who is still receiving regular cancer treatment. Yet he also wants to be welcomed back with open arms and to come and go in the UK as he pleases so that he can stay in touch with his charities. When it comes to rebuilding a relationship with his family, his past behaviour makes that tricky. Whether he likes it or not, dropping his demand for an apology may not be enough. It may now require one from him.
