London - Buckingham Palace denied yesterday that the Countess of Wessex, the former Sophie Rhys-Jones and wife of Prince Edward, had been ordered to choose between royal duties and her career.
Sunday newspapers claimed Queen Elizabeth was planning to summon her daughter-in-law and order her to abandon her career in public relations or be excluded from royal duties. The reports followed press pictures of the countess at the Frankfurt motor show where she was photographed with a new-model Rover car.