Author Hilary Mantel finally speaks up regarding the controversial comments she made about Kate Middleton, saying she has no regrets about what she said.

Late last month, author Hilary Mantel was criticized by British government officials and well-wishers of Kate Middleton for calling the Duchess a "shop window mannequin" and a "machine made" doll.

"I saw Kate becoming a jointed doll on which certain rags are hung," Mantel said in a lecture at the British Museum in London earlier this month, where she spoke about her changing view of the princess. "She was a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore. These days she is a mother-to-be, and draped in another set of threadbare attributions."

After nearly two weeks, the author has finally spoken up about the comments she made and says she has no regrets, even though she has been criticized heavily for what she said. During an interview on BBC Radio 3's Night Waves program, Thursday, Mantel said the words were taken out of context.

"My lecture and the subsequent essay was actually supportive of the royal family and when I used those words about the Duchess of Cambridge, I was describing the perception of her which has been set up in the tabloid press," she told presenter Anne McElvoy. "My speech ended with a plea to the press and to the media in general. I said 'back off and don't be brutes. Don't do to this young woman what you did to Diana. My whole theme was the way we maltreat royal persons, making them one superhuman and yet less than human."

According to Mantel, the whole controversy was a setup. She said her words were twisted around and she was made a "hate figure." However, she says what she said in the lecture was "crystal clear" and she has no regrets.

Mantel ended the interview saying she knows Middleton is an intelligent person and if the Duchess took time out to read the easy, she would know Mantel meant well.