Sophie Countess of Wessex has her royal high heels repaired at Cobblers, to get another three years wear out of them!

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“Make do and mend” isn’t the sort of phrase you usually associate with royalty, but Sophie - Countess of Wessex - bucked the regal trend and asked for her shoes to be repaired on a recent visit to a shoe repair shop in Manchester.

Probably more used to being able to buy glamorous shoes without worrying about a recession, Prince Edward’s wife was touring the Timpsons shoe repair training factory and decided that in these cash-strapped times, she would set a good example by having the repairs done while she waited.

Sophie, 43, showed cobblers working in the centre her £200 Laura B shoes and asked them, “Do you do a style like these?”

Well, they were hardly going to say no to their royal visitor, and got to work making the best of the shoes so that Sophie could wear them on another royal engagement without shame.

Jimmy Clarke, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, was entrusted with the task of making good the royal Laura B’s and said, “Everyone was pretty relaxed with her. When she asked what repairs we do she said, ‘Actually, I could do with having mine done!’ She said she wouldn’t mind going barefoot for a while, resting her feet on a carrier bag, royal silk stockings should never touch a cold concrete floor darling!

It was very unexpected. I think I was asked because I’ve got the most experience. “I was nervous, but I didn’t mess them up. It was an honour.”

Sophie wore an ivory belted trench coat and silk patterned scarf, over a knee-length grey skirt and top, and of course her newly mended shoes!

The firm, which has been mending shoes since 1865, has happily reported an upturn in business since the economy took a dive. Hardly surprising – if you have a pair of sexy heels that you love, why throw them away just because the heel needs repairing!

The picture opposite was taken of Sophie three years ago, wearing the exact shoes she had mended the other day! Well it seems the Countess certainly loves her Laura B shoes if she’s still wearing them three years down the line… It’s no wonder they needed mending!