The Duchess of Edinburgh has commenced her visit to Kenya, where a lively Sophie was seen sharing a dance with local women at a bead-making workshop in Nairobi.

At 61, Sophie is on a two-day journey throughout the East African nation, aiming to emphasize the crucial contributions of women in fostering peace and resolving conflicts.

During the initial day of her tour, the Duchess engaged in discussions with Kenya’s President, William Ruto, at the State House in Nairobi, focusing on the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership.

Sophie also participated in a luncheon with influential businesswomen from the British Chamber of Commerce Kenya (BCCK) and attended a Women in Leadership event, hosted by the Acting British High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr. Ed Barnett.

Earlier, the Duchess, known for her enthusiasm, demonstrated her dancing skills to the rhythm of traditional music at the Kazuri Beads workshop, where she spent time with the skilled women behind the flourishing enterprise.

This cheerful interaction won the hearts of royal fans who took to Instagram, applauding Sophie for her charm and for effortlessly embodying royalty.

‘Wonderful Duchess,’ commented one user, before adding: ‘Others should take note, that’s a real Duchess’. Meanwhile, another added: ‘I love how she gives everything a go’.

It comes as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry embarked on their two-day quasi-royal tour of Jordan at the invitation of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

As part of their Middle East trip, the pair have visited Za’atari Refugee Camp and the Specialty Hospital in Amman, alongside a rehabilitation centre for recovering addicts.

According to a royal expert, Sophie’s ‘remarkable’ advocacy work could have been replicated by Meghan, a passionate feminist, had she remained a senior working member of the Royal Family.

Sophie, 61, has embarked on a two-day trip across the East African country to highlight the vital role of women in both peacebuilding and conflict resolution across the nation

On the first day of her visit the Duchess met with Kenya’s President, William Ruto (pictured right), at the State House in Nairobi to discuss the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership

Richard Fitzwilliams previously told The Daily Mail: ‘Sophie has influence in ways that really matter, which Meghan could have been.

‘It does involve compromise, but think what could have been achieved for an important cause she claims is so dear to her heart.’

Mr Fitzwilliams added that Sophie has ‘proved she’s the Royal Family’s champion of women rights’ through her continued commitment to advocating for women’s issues and conflict-related sexual violence, amongst other causes.

Since the onset of her royal career, the Duchess of Edinburgh has deliberately focused her charity work around the importance of raising awareness of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and has championed the UN’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda. 

Meghan, meanwhile, has also been unafraid to speak on important public matters and was insistent that when she joined the Royal Family she would be continuing her advocacy work in her new role. 

In 2015, before she began dating Prince Harry, Meghan gave a keynote address on gender equality for UN Women in New York.

She received a standing ovation from guests including Ban Ki-moon, then UN secretary-general. 

Then in 2018, Meghan went off-script at the Royal Foundation Forum and spoke about women’s empowerment.

She said: ‘Women don’t need to find a voice because they have a voice, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen.’

Mr Fitzwilliams explained: ‘In her visits to Rwanda in 2016 and India in 2017 and in a memorable speech to the United Nations International Women’s Day Conference in 2015, she campaigned for equal opportunities.

‘She stressed this in her visits to the Antipodes and South Africa when she and Harry were still senior working members of the royal family.’

Sophie delighted royal fans when she was captured dancing with women at the Kazuri Beads workshop in Nairobi. ‘Wonderful Duchess,’ commented one Instagram user, before adding: ‘Others should take note, that’s a real Duchess’

According to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, Sophie’s ‘remarkable’ advocacy work could have been replicated by Meghan (pictured with Prince Harry during a quasi-royal tour in Jordan) had she remained a senior working member of the Royal Family

Meghan herself declared at the time: ‘With fame comes opportunity, but it also includes responsibility – to advocate and share, to focus less on glass slippers and more on pushing through glass ceilings.’

She previously insisted that it is essential to use one’s voice to advocate for change and that ‘hashtags are not enough’.

Sophie’s trip to Kenya came after a rare two-day visit to Somalia at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to draw attention to violence against women and how women can help to enhance peace and resillience. 

As part of her visit to the war-torn nation, Sophie met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at Villa Somalia to discuss how women can help to enhance peace and resilience across communities.

She was later joined by first daughter Jihan Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to meet survivors of gender and sexual-based violence perpetuated by al-Shabaab militants, and received briefings from key local partners about the prevalence of SGBV.

During a visit to a Somali village in Lower Shabelle, the empathetic duchess spoke with the wives of Somali soldiers about the risk of violence and the array of personal challenges they face.

The following day, Sophie held a meeting at the British Embassy with Somali organisations and partners to discuss the array of gender-based challenges exacerbated by conflict, drought and a lack of resources.

She later visited a hospital in central Mogadishu to learn about the devastating impact of female genital mutilation, rape and sexual assault on Somali women and the role a UK-funded service programme has played in strengthening service delivery.

Sophie’s east-Africa regional tour is seen as an ongoing commitment to her pledge to raise awareness of the issue of sexual violence. 

Sophie attended a lunch with leading businesswomen from the British Chamber of Commerce Kenya (BCCK) and also a Women In Leadership reception, hosted by Acting British High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr Ed Barnett

In recent years the King’s sister-in-law, who is married to his brother, Prince Edward, has travelled to current and former war zones including Chad, the Congo, Kosovo, South Chad, Lebanon and Sierra Leone.

She has devoted much of her latter working life as a royal to supporting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and is passionate about championing gender equality.

In April 2024, Sophie bravely denounced Putin’s forces for using rape as weapon of war as she became the first British royal to visit Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

In October, the royal visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to ‘shine a light’ on the ‘weaponisation of rape’.

During her three-day visit, she met female peacebuilders working at the grassroots level to highlight their efforts supporting local peace initiatives and witnessed the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict, particularly on women and girls.

In June, the duchess spoke passionately about her campaign to highlight the plight of victims of sexual violence and insisted that the country ‘must do better’.

At the UK’s first exhibition dedicated to the subject, Sophie, who made the visit ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, declared that the topic was woefully ‘under-discussed’.

The duchess spoke movingly about a visit she had made to Kosovo in 2019 and how deeply moved she had been when speaking to women about the ‘shame and stigma’ they experienced as a result of being brutalised.