Kate Middleton is garnering public praise from a fellow royal family member for how she has handled herself during a difficult period of her life.

Sophie Winkleman is married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael of Kent and second cousin of King Charles. In a new interview with Hello!, Sophie called the Princess of Wales “wonderful,” and mentioned she last saw Kate at Wimbledon — one of the Princess of Wales’ few public appearances throughout 2024. 

“It was so cheering to see her, beautiful as ever,” Sophie said of seeing Kate on July 14. “She’s been amazingly brave and is doing so well.”

After a planned abdominal surgery in January, Kate, 42, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer in a video message on March 22. On Sept. 9, she revealed in a second video message that she had completed chemotherapy, but added, “my path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”

Since her announcement on Sept. 9, Kate has taken two meetings at Windsor Castle — the first on Sept. 17, and the second a week later on Sept. 24 — and visited the English National Ballet on Sept. 26, when she privately attended a matinee performance of Giselle.

In her recent interview, Sophie also spoke about King Charles, who also announced that he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Following a procedure for a benign enlarged prostate in January, he announced on Feb. 5 that he would undergo treatment for cancer, with the palace clarifying it was not prostate cancer. He returned to public-facing duty on April 30 and will travel to Australia and Samoa alongside wife Queen Camilla later in October.

“Duty and service run through him like a stick of rock,” Sophie said. “It just doesn’t occur to him to rest, something which those who love him are desperate for him to do.”

She added, “he’s battling cancer and doesn’t give himself a moment off. He’s a hugely inspirational man.”

Though Sophie herself isn’t a working royal, she’s in close proximity to those who are. “The central royal family work very hard,” she told Hello!. “It’s not an easy existence, having a spotlight on you from the second you’re born. I count pretty much every one of them as a trusted friend. I’m very lucky.”

Formally, Sophie is known as Lady Frederick Windsor and has been since marrying into the royal family in 2009. Her husband Frederick — known to his friends as Freddie — is a second cousin once removed of Prince William and Prince Harry and is 53rd in line to the throne. He works outside of the family at JPMorganChase as an executive director, according to Tatler, and Sophie is an actress who works under her maiden name, Winkleman.

“We left two different parties and went for the same taxi,” Sophie, 44, told Hello! of meeting her now-husband, adding that he recognized her from her work in Peep Show. “He said, ‘You’re Big Suze. I love you!’ I laughed and asked the cab to take me somewhere. He pretended he was going to the same place. We shared the taxi, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Sophie is particularly close to Princess Eugenie, who is a godmother to the Windsors’ first child, Maud, born in 2013. Sophie also served as a bridesmaid for Eugenie when she married Jack Brooksbank in 2018.

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As Kate gradually returns to work while continually prioritizing her health, she is thought to hope to attend the annual Remembrance Day service on Nov. 10. She is also looking ahead to her annual Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey in December, which was the topic of discussion at her Sept. 24 meeting at Windsor Castle. (Her Sept. 17 meeting focused on work surrounding early childhood development, a cause the Princess of Wales has long been passionate about.)

“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,” she said in her Sept. 9 video message, filmed alongside husband Prince William, 42, and children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.

She added in the video, “I am, however, looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can. Despite all that has gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.”