COUNTESS OF WESSEX TO BE HONORED WITH ROYAL ORDER

THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX IS TO BE HONORED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH II WITH A ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER FOR HER 'PERSONAL' SERVICE TO THE QUEEN AND THE MONARCHY. A BUCKINGHAM PALACE SOURCE SAID: ' THE COUNTESS IS DELIGHTED AND HONORED FOR THIS RECOGNITION. THE ORDER, FOUNDED IN APRIL 1896 BY QUEEN VICTORIA, IS GIVEN TO PEOPLE 'WHO HAVE SERVED THE QUEEN OR THE MONARCHY IN A PERSONAL WAY'.' IT WILL BE FORMALLY PRESENTED TO THE COUNTESS, THE WIFE OF THE EARL OF WESSEX, AT A LATER DATE. THE EARL AND THE COUNTESS, WHO MARRIED IN 1999, HAVE TWO CHILDREN, LADY LOUISE WINDSOR AND VISCOUNT SEVERN.