Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex have given royal watchers a candid insight into their personal lives as they reflected on the past 15 months during the pandemic.
The royal couple found themselves among the thousands of parents who were forced to homeschool their children as the country went into lockdown.
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Touching upon some of the tensions that arose, Sophie - who shares Lady Louise Windsor, 17, and James, Viscount Severn, 13 with husband Edward - revealed she would always tell her children to leave their house for some fresh air.
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However, the 56-year-old insisted that there were no family rows during lockdown. "If things were kicking off inside, right from the year dot, I'd say: 'Right… outside!' You come back in again and the mood is entirely different," Sophie told The Telegraph.
"Louise would take herself off on her bike, and James is very self-motivated to get out, so actually, it was never a struggle."
Reiterating that they were very "fortunate," the doting mum explained: "There were certainly moments when I think we all felt a bit low. But then you have to sit there and go, hang on - look at our wonderful surroundings, we are very, very lucky, and so many other people are not in that situation.
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrince Edward and Sophie live with their children at Bagshot Park
"Had we been sitting in an apartment, you know in a tenement block… My heart goes out to people in that situation."
Both Edward and Sophie live with their children at Bagshot Park in Surrey, just a few miles down the road from Windsor Castle. Their proximity to the Queen's royal residence during the pandemic meant the family got to spend some time with both her Majesty and the late Prince Philip.
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"We used to see them stand on the balcony, which was about 20 feet up in the air," the Countess said of their socially-distance meetings. "We'd see them waving. We'd shout at them and they'd shout back at us. It always seemed to be windy, so we could barely hear each other."
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