Queen Elizabeth II's daughter-in-law said Prince Philip "left a giant-sized hole in our lives," during an interview in which she fought back tears.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, looked overcome with emotion as she shared memories of her father-in-law during a sit-down with the BBC.
And she conceded there may be more heart-breaking moments ahead when lockdown eases and the royals return to the kinds of activities they used to do with Elizabeth's husband of 73 years.
Sophie, wife of the queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, told the BBC: "Well he's [Philip's] left a giant-sized hole in our lives. I think unfortunately the pandemic has slightly skewed things, in as much as it's hard to spend as much time with the Queen as we would like to.
"We've been trying to, but of course, it's still not that easy. And of course the normal way of things isn't normal yet, so we're not necessarily doing the things that we would normally have done with him.
"So I think the whole grieving process is probably likely, for us, to take a lot longer. It may be the same for many other families out there.
"Because if you're not living with somebody, 24/7, the immediate loss isn't necessarily felt in the same way, as if somebody was in the house with you all the time."
Sophie said it was only by doing familiar activities that the reality of Philip's death hit home, in what she described as "oh my goodness" moments.
She then described how she took a portrait photograph of the queen and Philip at Balmoral, the Elizabeth's Scottish estate, in 2003, while she was pregnant with first child, Lady Louise Windsor.
Sophie said she was reminded of the memory on a recent trip to Scotland.
The countess said: "I was pregnant with Louise at the time and we went up there during half term."
She then took a long pause before interviewer Naga Munchetty asked, "Are you okay?"
The countess then continued: "And just to be there, in that place, was an oh my God moment."
She added: "Just talking to you now, it's a bit of an oh my goodness moment."
Prince Philip died on April 9, several weeks after he spent a month in hospital with an infection and for heart surgery.
The royal family came together for his funeral on April 17, when Sophie's husband Prince Edward walked behind the coffin at Windsor Castle.
Royals looked visibly moved during the scaled down ceremony at St. George's Chapel, where the queen sat alone due to COVID protocol.
