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By CNN's Royal Correspondent Max Foster and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London

Hendri Lombard/Sightsavers/PA

Another week, another trip for Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. This time, the 59-year-old royal, who is married to Prince Edward, has been in Tanzania to celebrate the work between the United Kingdom and the East African nation on health, agriculture and women's empowerment.
 
Sophie, who is the global ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, first visited Dar es Salaam before traveling to Zanzibar and Arusha, carrying out engagements with international organizations Sightsavers, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and the Alliance of Bioversity and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
 
Sophie, who has been married to Edward for 25 years, has grown into her role as a working royal and is often called upon by her brother-in-law, King Charles. When Sophie and Edward first got together, she was scrutinized by the British press in a similar manner to Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson or Kate Middleton. The earlier years of their marriage saw a lot of attention on her background in public relations and their business interests. Both ultimately sacrificed their commercial roles in 2002 to become full-time royals and support the monarch.

The past few days have been a whirlwind of engagements, walkabouts and plane journeys. In Dar es Salaam, she visited Magomeni Health Center, a primary health facility offering crucial sexual health and family planning support. She also visited the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, to learn about its work battling child abuse in the country and the care given to survivors.

Before leaving the city, the duchess delivered a message from the King during a reception on Tuesday evening hosted by the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, in which the monarch commended the progress made in the country to eliminate the infectious and blinding eye disease trachoma.
 
"I particularly wanted you all to know how full of admiration and gratitude I am for your passion and devoted efforts in treating and preventing neglected tropical diseases, especially trachoma," the message said.
 
"Your constant dedication and hard work will lead us to a world where inclusion and equality can be realized across our Commonwealth."
 
The King's short note ended with his "warmest good wishes and heartfelt encouragement for the much-needed success of your gathering."
 
During the event, Sophie set a goal of eradicating the eye disease across the Commonwealth by 2030.

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Upon arriving in Zanzibar, the duchess once again hit the ground running. Her first stop was a visit to the president of the semi-autonomous island, Hussein Ali Mwinyi, before later meeting with the Tanzanian president, Samia Suluhu Hassan. She also observed the efforts of the Ministry of Health, Uniting to Combat NTDs and the organization Unlimit Health to fight the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis, which is more commonly known as elephantiasis.
 
She is set to end the week in Arusha, where she is expected to find out more about the collaborative work between the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, before meeting female Tanzanian farmers to learn how they are being empowered through science and entrepreneurial opportunities.

It's been a lot to get through in a short time. But this isn't her first solo visit to the nation. In fact, Tanzania was the destination of her first ever solo trip, back in 2004. And to see the duchess stand in for Charles speaks to how trusted a member of his inner circle Sophie has become.

She routinely takes on assignments from the monarch, stepping in as needed and when asked by the King. With their two children now a bit older, both of the Edinburghs have helped ease the burden of duties, alongside Princess Anne, by taking on more since the departure of the Sussexes and Prince Andrew. 
 
Sophie has managed to carve out a space in the royal portfolio that reflects the causes she is most passionate about: the intersection of women's empowerment, gender equality, health and wellbeing.

Earlier this year, she was the first royal to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. She also went to the city of Bucha to pay her respects to the victims of the 2022 massacre.  
 
It was the latest in a long list of countries Sophie has visited over the years to see first-hand the impact of historical and ongoing conflict, including Kosovo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Colombia.
 
Her trips don't often grab the public's attention in the same way as those of other senior royals, but interest in Sophie appears to be growing now she is more prominently seated at the top table.

Things are moving in the right direction for Kate. 

The Princess of Wales held her first engagement since revealing that she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. She resumed work by hosting a meeting at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, according to a post in the Court Circular, which officially documents events carried out by the royal family either in public or behind palace walls. The official record was light on detail: It was an early-years meeting, but we know Kate has for years been focused on early childhood development, which aides have previously described as her "life's work." Read more on this story here.

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Harry's birthday messages from the Windsors. 

The Windsors dropped birthday messages for the Duke of Sussex on social media on Sunday as he hit the big 4-0. The first came from his father, the monarch, followed by the Prince and Princess of Wales an hour later. It was their first public birthday greeting since 2021. Harry is thought to have spent the milestone with his family in California before going on a trip with some close friends. The downtime came ahead of a busy week in New York followed by a return to London at the end of the month for the annual WellChild awards -- a charity close to his heart, of which he has been patron for 16 years. Find out more in our story. 

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NZ rugby player on that hug with the King.

CNN

New Zealand Black Ferns rugby union player Alana Bremner was part of the squad that visited Buckingham Palace last week for the meeting with King Charles.
 
Speaking to CNN's Amanda Davies this week, she opened up about the surreal experience of visiting the royal residence and her encounter with the monarch. "We were really privileged to be able to go into Buckingham Palace and meet the King. It was an amazing experience and I think the whole room was buzzing," she recalled.
 
"He gave us a lot of time each. We were in groups of six and he'd come round and talk to us all individually ... I really can't believe that happened."
 
On that hug that went viral, she said the group before hers had been the ones to ask Charles, and "he seemed keen and they jumped in." She added: "I've been a tourist outside the gates a couple times, so to have the gates open and us enter in on a bus ... the energy was insane, just going in and seeing the courtyard, seeing the palace -- it was crazy!"

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Prince William, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland, laughs during an event hosted by Homewards Aberdeen on Thursday in Aberdeen, Scotland. He was in town to meet and thank representatives working in the homelessness sector. Homewards is a five-year, locally led plan in six flagship locations around the UK, including Aberdeen, that the prince hopes will demonstrate it is possible to prevent and end homelessness. 

Watch: Another streamer revisits the Prince Andrew scandal.

Amazon Prime is the latest streaming platform to have a go at deconstructing the circumstances that led to Prince Andrew's sit-down interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019. Released this week, the three-part series, "A Very Royal Scandal," stars Michael Sheen as the prince and Ruth Wilson as journalist Emily Maitlis. Speaking to CNN, both stars recalled being gobsmacked by the interview. Have a watch below:  

"Voting is not just a right; it's a fundamental way to influence the fate of our communities."

– The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Archewell Foundation

Harry and Meghan are doing their part ahead of the US election, calling on people to register to vote. The couple revealed that in honor of National Voter Registration Day, the Archewell team assembled for a letter-writing activity targeting unregistered voters. The couple did not endorse a candidate. "At The Archewell Foundation, we recognize that civic engagement, no matter one's political party, is at the heart of a more just and equitable world. By participating in initiatives like this, we aim to amplify the message that every voice matters," a statement on the organization's website reads.

CNN's Aleks Klosok contributed reporting to this newsletter.