She insulted the heir to the throne's organic jam and chatted openly about William and Harry's love lives. But Princess Michael of Kent's latest indiscretions are likely to be treated sympathetically by her high-ranking relatives, according to royal watchers.

The Windsors know she is not the first to fall victim to a sting by the News of the World's Fake Sheikh - although they'll be hoping she is the last.

In 2002, the Duke of Wessex's wife Sophie was caught on camera using her royal status to drum up PR work, and also made less than flattering comments about Tony Blair and then-Conservative leader William Hague.

Royal writer Judy Wade said it would help that nearly all the Windsors had suffered at the hands of the media at some point. ''They will be fairly understanding. They hate the Press far more than they hate her."

The Princess's candid comments were made while trying to sell her eight-bedroomed Gloucestershire home to the Fake Sheikh - actually undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood - for £6m. She reportedly told him Charles had never been in love with Princess Diana, saying: ''He married a womb''.

The 60-year-old - married to the Queen's first cousin Prince Michael - said she thought Prince William, 22, was too young to wed girlfriend Kate Middleton, and expressed the view that Camilla Parker Bowles would be Queen one day and not just Princess Consort as Buckingham Palace always claims.

As the sheikh took his leave, she handed over a pot of jam and said it was home-made - unlike Charles's: ''He doesn't make it himself - he's got factories doing it.''

Royal historian Hugo Vickers said the episode was another example of the ''unfair media image'' the Bohemia-born Princess has been saddled with. ''Princess Michael is going to be one of those people who have to live with a bad press. She is foreign and perhaps goes headlong into situations that we British would be more reticent about.''

He added: ''She is a bit like Prince Philip. If you ask people what their first thought about him is, it's that he makes gaffes.''

The Princess's past media run-ins include reports in 2002 that the couple were paying just £69-a-week for their apartment at Kensington Palace. There was more negative coverage last year after she allegedly told noisy diners in a New York restaurant to ''go back to the colonies''.

Last month it emerged the Princess - who receives no funding from the civil list and has no official royal duties - had been filming a TV documentary following her efforts to sell Nether Lypiatt mansion in Gloucestershire.

The Princess - nicknamed ''Princess Pushy'' due to her supposed love of the high life and assertive style - was born Baroness Marie-Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz in Karlsbad, Bohemia. In addition to her charity work, she is a horsewoman and writes royal books and undertakes lecture tours.

The Windsors will be hoping the furore from the latest controversial comments will blow over quickly.

But in the meantime, the Princess will probably be heeding what she maintains is the best advice she has ever been given. As former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once told her: ''Never read the papers.''