Duchess Sophie Channels Princess Diana During Passionate New Interview

It would take a village to fill the void of the late Princess Diana, but Duchess Sophie is trying nonetheless. 

This week, the Duchess of Edinburgh, 59, traveled to Tanzania for a five-day solo trip. The royal family shared a video on its official Instagram account, featuring Sophie sitting down for a powerful interview where she discussed goal of eliminating avoidable blindness. Similar to the late Princess Diana, who was notoriously focused on philanthropic efforts such as the elimination of landmines (also in Africa), Duchess Sophie dove into her own charitable efforts in Tanzania. The royal was poised, well spoken and extremely passionate throughout the conversation (reminiscent of previous Diana interviews regarding charities and important causes). 

“I’m here to concentrate on issues of avoidable blindness, which was actually what brought me here in the first place,” she said in the clip. 

The duchess went on to explain why she’s so passionate about this subject matter, saying, “I was interested in it because the solutions are there. It’s a question of having the will.”

She continued, “I have to say that I’m so pleased to come back and see the incredible work that’s been carried out here in Tanzania. So many of the ways that you deal with some of these issues have an impact not only on the disease that you’re trying to deal with, they have a positive impact on other diseases as well. So it’s a win-win.”

The royal concluded the interview with a glimmer of hope for the future: “[I’m] doing some field visits to see what we’re doing with trying to eliminate blindness from trachoma, which Tanzania is so close to being able to achieve. Which is really exciting.”