'That's good banter!': Emma Raducanu recalls King Charles' coaching jab

WATCH: Emma Raducanu offering personal coaching with Airwayz | The Break

Gossip travels fast, and Emma Raducanu recently learned first-hand that even royalty is not immune from indulging in it from time to time.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times in the U.K. this week, the 2021 US Open champion revealed that King Charles III cracked a little joke at her expense when she received her MBE from him last year. Raducanu has famously gone through five coaches in the 18 months since winning in New York—when she became the first qualifier, male or female, to ever win a Grand Slam singles title—and her personal coaching carousel has been a favorite topic of British media over that time.

In the interview, Raducanu recalled how, when she met the king last fall to receive her award, she discovered that the tabloid gossip about her career had made it all the way to Buckingham Palace.

“He asked me, ‘So, have you found a coach?’," she said. “I was like, ‘That’s good banter!’ It was so funny, I was laughing because everyone was ripping me for not having a coach. I was like, ‘The fact you know this, I feel honored!'”

Currently sidelined after two wrist surgeries and ankle surgery, Raducanu detailed to the Times the mental toll that injuries have taken since her major triumph, and the lessons she's learned over that time.

She also opened up on her feelings about the duality of her US Open title, and her overnight rise to superstar status. Since winning the US Open, her brand portfolio has grown exponentially after endorsement deals with brands like Nike, Tiffany, Porsche, Evian and Dior, and last year, she was the third-highest paid female athlete behind Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.

"That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, ‘I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment. Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now because this is the best thing in the world.’ I promised myself that, on the court that day,” she continued.

“Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself, ‘I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen,’ then I am like, ‘Remember that feeling, remember that promise, because it was completely pure.'”

Raducanu missed Roland Garros, and will be off the tour through Wimbledon this summer, as a result of her recent surgeries. She last played at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in April.