Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, shared a humorous and lighthearted memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II, recalling a moment when she was bluntly dismissed from a royal dinner table over an unexpected obsession.
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1. The Olympic Distraction at Balmoral
During a family gathering at Balmoral Castle, the royal family found themselves seated for dinner right as Great Britain’s women’s field hockey team played in the tense gold-medal match against the Netherlands at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Fidgeting Through Dinner: Desperate to know the score, Sophie kept receiving quiet updates from a staff member who was also a hockey fan. Unable to hide her nervous energy, Sophie recalled that she was visibly “twitching” at the table.
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The Queen’s Blunt Dismissal: Observing her daughter-in-law’s distraction, Queen Elizabeth finally had enough of the nervous tension and dryly commanded, “Oh, for goodness’ sake, just go!”
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2. A Secret Shared Excitement
Relieved by the permission, Sophie rushed off to watch the dramatic finish, only to discover that the late monarch shared the exact same sporting passion.
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Caught in the Doorway: As the match headed into a nail-biting penalty shootout, Sophie spotted Queen Elizabeth standing quietly in the library doorway, having slipped away herself because she “couldn’t cope with the pressure.”
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The Emotional Victory: Great Britain ultimately clinched the gold medal, leaving Sophie in a “flood of tears” of joy—a rare, informal glimpse into family life and shared sporting excitement behind palace walls.