Lady Frederick Windsor has opened up to HELLO! about her life in lockdown, which has seen the royal family member home school her two daughters plus celebrate her milestone 40th birthday.
In the interview in this week's magazine, the actress, known professionally as Sophie Winkleman, also spoke about the family's most recent royal wedding – that of Princess Beatrice.
MORE: Sophie Winkleman to star in new series of Strike - all the details
WATCH: All of Princess Beatrice's dreamy wedding photos revealed
Sophie had been looking forward to another royal big day this year, but Princess Beatrice had to call off her May nuptials because of the Covid-19 pandemic and ended up tying the knot with property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a surprise, scaled-down ceremony last month.
MORE: 7 celebrity and royal couples who married amid the pandemic
"Beatrice is a heavenly girl," says Sophie. "I thought she looked exquisite on her wedding day and it was very dignified to have married in such a small yet beautiful way."
© Photo: PA"She looked exquisite on her wedding day," said Sophie of her royal relative
The TV star, who is married to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's son Lord Frederick Windsor, marked her 40th birthday earlier this month at home with her family, where she received cards, flowers and gifts.
"I was so lucky, I felt truly loved and spoiled," she says. "It was a wonderful way to start this decade. I also had the most spectacular five-layer birthday cake baked for me by my wonderful friend Jamie Oliver. He's so insanely busy; I was so touched."
MORE: 41 show-stopping celebrity birthday cakes that have to be seen
© Photo: Getty ImagesSophie and Frederick attend Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding last year
Sophie's banker husband Frederick has swapped long days in the office for working from home. "My husband became much closer to my younger daughter having had this unexpected time together. They went to the park together every day as a little twosome," Sophie, mother of Maud, seven, and Isabella, four, says.
"But other bits have been very difficult and tiring," she admits. "Home schooling I thoroughly failed at. I couldn't separate my general loathing of kids in front of screens from the fact that Maud needed to be temporarily educated on one, so I didn't make her sit down and join every lesson or even every day.
"Pretty useless of me, especially as Maud's school was brilliant online. Freddie, thank goodness, kept her maths going; he's excellent at maths."
Pick up the new issue of HELLO! out now for the full interview.
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
