ROYAL family member Sophie Winkleman has opened up about her relationship with King Charles and how he was one of the people who helped her most after a horror car crash.
Actress Sophie is married to Lord Frederick Windsor, who is second cousin of Charles and 53rd in the line to the throne.
After the pair met almost two decades ago, Sophie – who is known as Lady Frederick Windsor and is also the daughter-in-law of Prince and Princess of Michael of Kent – has grown close with many members of the extended family.
And now in an exclusive cover interview with Tatler, Sophie, 43, has lifted the lid on what King Charles is like behind closed doors, describing him as a “very dear friend.”
She told the publication: ‘I spend a bit of time with him.
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“You see how he works all day long, has a quick supper and then disappears until about 4am to write letters.
“He cares about so many things and he comes up with brilliant solutions.”
And mum-of-two Sophie said there was no better example of the kind of man the King is than when she experienced a particularly painful time.
In 2016, Sophie – the half-sister of Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman – was being driven home from the set of Danny Boyle’s TV drama Trust when she was involved in a horror crash.
As a result, she was left trapped in the back seat of the turned over car – and admitted that she “assumed she was a goner.”
After being cut out of the wrecked vehicle by paramedics, Sophie had to spend three days in hospital and had broken her foot, as well as three bones in her back.
And when she returned home, she was touched to learn that Charles, then Prince Charles, had sweetly enlisted the help of his cook at Clarence House to cook for Sophie and her family twice a day for her recovery period.
The former Peep Show star explained: “It was lifesaving, having this massive thing twice daily that I didn’t have to worry about.”
But Charles wasn’t the only Royal to rally around her in her time of need.
Sophie also shared with Tatler how Prince William asked an air ambulance colleague to “take good care of her” and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, came to see her in hospital.
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Meanwhile, the late Queen showed just as much compassion as her son – and helped turn things around for Sophie when they met at a function at a pivotal point in her recovery.
Sophie, who is set to appear in the second series of ITV drama Belgravia: The Next Chapter, recalled: “She asked how I was, and she said, ‘We can’t have that. You have to go in the water.’
“She told us that when horses had broken backs, they swam, and so she let me use her pool at Buckingham Palace. That’s the reason I got better.”
The actress, who has also starred in ITV’s Sanditon and blockbuster movie Wonka, added: “It was so typically thoughtful.”
See the full feature in the February issue of Tatler available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 4 January.
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