Plans to relocate the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie, in Scotland were apparently hatched in 2020 amid growing political unrest involving the popularity of the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Daily Mail reported that Downing Street considered asking Edward and Sophie to move to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth's official residence in Scotland, to hold more royal engagements as the SNP's calls for a new independence referendum have been growing louder.
The report cited that officials at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office thought Edward and Sophie's relocation might save the Union and solidify the ties of the four countries comprising the United Kingdom -- England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. However, the said plan was apparently "mooted" among officials in Downing Street. The prime minister's office is still looking for another way to save the Union as SNP's Nicola Sturgeon is projected to win by a landslide in May 2021.
Sturgeon vowed that she will push for the referendum if she is re-elected as the First Minister. The last time Scotland had a referendum was in 2014, when 55 percent said that they want to remain in the United Kingdom.
The royal family, especially Queen Elizabeth, usually do not involve themselves in political matters. However, experts said that Her Majesty's speech during the 2014 polls, asking the Scots to carefully think of their vote, apparently helped "No" win the referendum.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth's mother, the Queen Mum, was the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne of Scotland. The Queen's Scottish ancestry can be traced to Sir John Lyon, Thane of Glamis, the son-in-law of the King of Scots, Robert II, from the 14th Century.
In 2019, Queen Elizabeth gifted her youngest son the title of the Earl of Forfar in Scotland for his 55th birthday. In turn, this made Prince Edward's wife the Countess of Forfar. According to Buckingham Palace, Edward and Sophie will carry these titles only when they are on Scotland soil.
In July 2019, Edward and Sophie visited Forfar for the first time. They revisited the county, albeit virtually, during the third lockdown in the United Kingdom in January 2021 to celebrate Burns Night.
Royal aides from Buckingham Palace said that they did not receive any formal proposal or request from the prime minister's office regarding Edward and Sophie's relocation. Since 1999, Edward and Sophie have called their estate in Bagshot Park, Surrey Hills as their home. The property is near Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been isolating from the coronavirus.
