An award-winning British novelist has spoken out in defense of a speech she made that appeared to be harshly critical of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Two-time Booker prize-winner Hilary Mantel gave a speech last month in which it was reported she described the former Kate Middleton as a “shop-window mannequin” with a perfect plastic smile, and no personality.

But Mantel told the BBC those comments were taken out of context. She said the lecture was supportive of the Royal Family, and those comments were actually a description of how Kate was being portrayed in the tabloid press.

She pointed out that her speech, “ended with a plea to the press and to the media in general: ‘back off and don’t be brutes; don’t do to this young woman what you did to Diana’.”