Sophie Winkleman praises ‘amazingly brave’ Princess of Wales after her cancer treatment – and says the royal is ‘beautiful as ever’

Sophie Winkleman has praised the ‘wonderful’ Princess of Wales as ‘brave’ and ‘beautiful’ in a recent interview.

The Peep Show star, 44, who is married to King Charles’s second cousin Lord Frederick Windsor, said she last saw Kate at Wimbledon in July, where she was greeted with a standing ovation.

Kate, who this month completed chemotherapy, was still undergoing treatment at the time, leading Sophie to say: ‘I last saw her at Wimbledon; it was so cheering to see her, beautiful as ever. She’s been amazingly brave and is doing so well.’

The actress also praised King Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer in January, explaining that despite his diagnosis, the 75-year-old monarch is reluctant to take a break.

She told Hello: ‘Duty and service run through him like a stick of rock; it just doesn’t occur to him to rest, something which those who love him are desperate for him to do.’

Sophie said she counts every one of the central royal family as a ‘trusted friend’, adding that they work ‘very hard’, despite not having ‘an easy existence’ due to the nature of the role.

Elsewhere, Sophie revealed that she has banned her children Maud, 11, and Isabella, eight, from using social media, with fears that it will impact their attention spans and expose them to harmful content.

It’s an outlook that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would no doubt support, with them launching a campaign aimed at tackling harm caused to children online in August.

Called The Parents’ Network, the initiative aims to help offer a ‘safe and supportive community [which] is available to all caregivers navigating the complex digital world’.

The Network already includes a group of parents. According to the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation website, this group includes those who ‘have first-hand knowledge of the pain and destruction caused by social media use’.

Sophie met Lord Frederick Windsor on a night out in Soho and married him in September 2009 at Hampton Court Palace.

The guests included senior members of the Royal Family and the bride’s half sister, Claudia.

The actress wore a silk gown with a sweetheart neckline made by Anna Bystrova from Roza Couture, favourite designer of her new mother-in-law, Princess Michael of Kent’s.

The actress last saw the Princess of Wales at Wimbledon in July when she received a standing ovation 

Sophie is married to Lord Fredrick Windsor (seen together at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in July)

Lady Sophie and Lord Freddie spent seven years living in Los Angeles – having moved there the day after their wedding to allow Sophie to continue her acting work.

Her roles included Ashton Kutcher’s character Walden’s girlfriend Zoe in Two and a Half Man. She also penned screenplays for Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz. Lord Frederick continued working for JP Morgan.

Other appearances include roles in Peep Show, Death in Paradise, Sanditon and This is Going to Hurt.

While living in the states, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina, who was born at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in August 2013.

This was actually Sophie’s second stint in LA. She had moved there after finishing university, but she left when she believed that executives wished to make her a ‘skinny little star’.

They welcomed their second daughter, Isabella Alexandra May Windsor, back in the United Kingdom. She was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

Maud and Isabella were among five bridesmaids for her sister-in-law Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding to Thomas Kingston in 2019.

The mother-of-two told Hello that she has banned her daughters from creating social media accounts

She previously detailed her experience moving into the Royal Family, telling The Times in 2020: ‘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.

‘They’d never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some role. Everyone’s looked after me.’

Sophie explained that her royal in-laws went out of their way to be supportive after she was injured in a road accident in November 2017.

She was a back-seat passenger in a chauffeur-driven car when another vehicle struck her car after swerving to avoid a deer.

The car she was riding in was dramatically thrown up into the air before crashing down and causing life-threatening injuries.

While trapped upside down in the back of the car, Sophie admitted she assumed she was a ‘goner’ and began contemplating her husband’s life without her.

Medics managed to cut her free, but she’d broken her foot and two bones in her back; it was three days before she was told she wouldn’t be left paralysed.

Sophie said the rehabilitation period, which lasted over a year, was ‘miserable’ and left her unable to pick up her daughters.

The royals rallied, with Prince William asking an air ambulance colleague to ‘take good care’ of her. Sophie, then Duchess of Wessex, visited her hospital bed and Prince Charles supplied her family with two meals a day cooked by his Clarence House chef.

She said: ‘I heard from pretty much every member of Freddie’s family, I was spoiled to bits by them.’