Sophie's awkward diplomatic baggage

Just what is a gentleman to do when confronted with a hot and bothered Countess of Wessex? In the best traditions of the British Diplomatic Service ... grin and take it, of course.

And in this case, precisely what Her Majesty's High Commissioner to Kenya - Mr Edward Clay CMG - was expected to take was Sophie's suit-carrier which she thrust at him as he waited to greet her and Prince Edward to Nairobi.

The breakdown in royal protocol occurred as the couple landed in Nairobi after a delayed six-hour flight from Johannesburg. Other passengers on the scheduled flight were asked to wait for Edward and Sophie to leave the aircraft but, as the couple came down the steps, it became clear the usual arrangements accompanying royal visits had gone wrong. With no one to help, Sophie handed her bag to the first person she met on the tarmac - Mr Clay.

British diplomats are trained to deal with most eventualities, but acting as unpaid porter for visiting royals is not usually one of them. The envoy, 56, kept smiling as he shook the Countess's hand while clutching her luggage to his chest, but she looked like thunder.

Sophie was so annoyed by her undignified arrival that she tried to hide from photographers behind her suit-carrier.

One onlooker said: "We were amazed when we saw them carrying their own things. The minute Sophie saw the photographers she covered her face with one of those canvas holders. There was a chap with them - probably a security man - but he was carrying his own bag. The High Commissioner was at the bottom of the steps, hoping to shake Sophie's hand. But she just pushed everything into his hands as if he was a porter. He was quite amused, but she definitely looked angry."

A passenger on the flight said: "Even first class passengers take their own hand baggage off. God knows what her problem was."

Edward and Sophie are in Kenya at the invitation of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Foundation, not on an official tour, so do not have their usual retinue. Diplomats were apparently unaware of this. The Foreign Office in London denied there was any "set protocol" for such visits. "The High Commissioner was there and he was asked to help. I don't see that's a problem," said a spokesman.