The Countess of Wessex has recorded a reading for Westminster Abbey’s podcast.

Sophie contributed to the Abbeycast series while in lockdown at her Bagshot Park home in Surrey.

It was set up to reach worshippers while the central London church is closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Queen’s daughter-in-law has kept busy while regular royal duties have been curtailed during the crisis, volunteering by packing food parcels for healthcare staff.

She also video-called veterans for the VE Day 75th anniversary, and spoke with nurses around the globe with the Duchess of Cambridge for International Nurses Day.

The countess delivered a reading from St Luke’s Gospel to mark Ascension Day on Thursday, which celebrates Jesus’s Ascension into heaven 40 days after Easter, and the episode was led by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr David Hoyle.

Sophie is following in the footsteps of the Prince of Wales, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and the Bishop of London the Right Rev Dame Sarah Mullally, who have all taken part in the series.

Westminster Abbey – the venue for many royal celebrations, commemorations and services – was established as a Royal Peculiar in 1560 by Queen Elizabeth I, and is directly accountable to the sovereign.