Gaffe-prone Edward and Sophie quit their careers

Internal links

Leading article: Gold soap

The Earl and Countess of Wessex have decided to forgo their business careers after a series of gaffes involving their professional lives. They announcement at the weekend that they would instead play a greater role in supporting the Queen and doing charitable work. In return the Queen is thought to have agreed to make an additional financial contribution to the couple from her share of the Civil List.

Constitutional experts described the decision as both inevitable and long overdue. David Starkey, a royal historian, said: "Their position has been impossible right from the start.

"Edward has never been anything other than a prince playing at making television programmes about the Royal Family and Sophie was milking the connection right from the very beginning."

The Countess was accused of cashing in on her royal status after newspapers printed comments she made last year during a meeting with a man she believed to be an Arab sheikh but who was an undercover newspaper reporter.

The Earl said he wanted to concentrate on helping the Queen "shoulder" some of the extra responsibilities during her golden jubilee year.