It's been a torrid time for the royal family in the wake of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all Netflix docuseries.
In keeping with the Queen's stoic approach to public relations – never complain, never explain, King Charles and his loved ones have maintained a dignified silence.
But one family member has now spoken out in defence of the King and other senior royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales who earlier this week missed a festive Windsor lunch - for a very good reason.
Actress Sophie Winkleman who is married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of the Queen's cousin, Prince Michael of Kent – spoke about the recent difficulties experienced by Charles and his loved ones in a new interview with The Spectator.
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe half-sister of Strictly co-host Claudia Winkleman confirmed that she would be spending Christmas in London with her husband and their two children, daughters Maud, nine, and six-year-old Isabella.
She told the publication: "This Christmas will be spent in London. I love a London Christmas. The streets are quiet, the parks are empty – it's a bit like lockdown London but without the masks. We'll see my parents on Christmas Day and some of my husband Freddie's relations in various locations.
© Photo: RexSophie continued: "I cherish my growing closeness to the senior members of the royal family who are so hardworking, uncomplaining and brave in the face of relentless and brutal media attention, criticism, lies, undermining and fictional TV programmes – and always so good to me that I'm honoured to know them."
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It's not the first time that Sophie has spoken about her bond with the royals. The 42-year-old – who married Frederick in Hampton Court Palace in 2009 – opened up about the family in an interview with The Times back in December 2020.
© Photo: Getty ImagesShe said at the time: "I've been incredibly welcomed with open arms by all of them. I haven't had a single negative experience.
"The Queen's been wonderful, Prince Charles has been wonderful, Prince William's been heaven," she said. "They'd never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some [racy] role. Everyone's looked after me."
One of Sophie's distinctly non-racy roles came when she appeared in the 2005 adaptation of CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - and here you can see a clip from her cameo as the older Susan.
WATCH: Sophie Winkleman in classic children's film
Back to the The Times interview and Sophie also spoke about her terrifying car crash in November 2017 when she suffered life-threatening injuries. She revealed how the royals had rallied around to help her family.
Sophie received a hospital visit from Sophie Wessex, while Prince William asked one of his colleagues from the East Anglia Air Ambulance "take good care of her."
© Photo: Getty ImagesIn a touching gesture, Prince Charles also instructed his Clarence House chef to deliver her young family a couple of hearty meals every day "for months".
"It was life-saving having this massive thing twice daily I didn’t have to worry about," Sophie said.
For more behind-the-scenes royal nuggets like this, including how the Queen responded to being told she mumbled part of her Christmas speech, check out HELLO!'s brand new A Right Royal Podcast. You can listen on Apple podcasts or simply by playing the embed below.
