Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, share a close bond with Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex.

The bond seemingly grew even more after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left their senior royal positions in 2020, and the two couples had to fill in the gap left behind by the Sussexes.

Although, the Prince of Wales has always had a deep respect and admiration for Sophie, who has been taking on more royal responsibilities and have represented King Charles on multiple key occasions.

A glimpse of William and Sophie’s sweet relationship was laid bare in a rare joint appearance last year, when they attended that screening of a wildlife ranger documentary, Rhino Man.

While introducing Sophie to attendees at the event, the future king sweetly said, “This is my aunt.”

Keen royal watchers were quick to notice the heartwarming interaction and praised the royals to be such “lovely close-knit family” on social media.

Meanwhile, a report revealed that the Duchess of Edinburgh is quite popular with the public as she “represents a bridge between older members of the family like King Charles III and the upcoming generation of royals headed by William.”

As the strength of the working members of the royal family is quite small compared to Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Sophie is now estimated to carry out more than 200 royal engagements each year.

It now appears that she will also be a key member once William takes the throne next.