Fraud trial recap: Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi's personal assistant told to buy ''anything I wanted'' on credit card, court hears

<airplane christmas cardsp>Asked by Ms Arden to describe her relationship with her former employers, Francesca said: "How do you describe a relationship with a family?

"It's a natural feeling - you love someone, they love you back.

"You go beyond loyalty."

She said she did everything she possibly could to please Mr Saatchi and Ms Lawson, who divorced earlier this year.

Referring to the trial, Francesca told the jury: "When something like this is happening, you don't stop loving them.

"You're disappointed, but you don't stopped loving them. I never stopped loving Charles or Nigella or the children."

She said she was "extremely fond" of them all, adding: "They loved me back. I had a great relationship with all of them, Charles included.

"Many of you heard he had a very scatty type of temperament but I always had an incredible relationship with him until the day this happened."

Asked how they were as employers, Francesca said: "I never see them like that, I saw them as a family."

She and Ms Lawson had a very close bond, akin to a mother-daughter relationship, the court heard.

"She embraces you, she wants you to lean on her and her to lean on you," she said. "It's a very open relationship. It goes from personal things to working things. You could talk to her about anything."

They would discuss the children, Ms Lawson's relatives and her relationship with Mr Saatchi, the court heard.

The pair's closeness led to Francesca once remarking: "I don't know how, you understand me better than my own family."

Francesca said she appreciated everything the TV cook had done for her.

She was asked by Ms Arden about booking taxis on the family's account with a cab firm, and said she was allowed to order one whenever she needed to, whether for work or personal reasons.

Francesca denied that booking cabs was ever a secret and both Mr Saatchi and Ms Lawson always knew when she had done so.

The defendants, of Italian descent, are on trial at Isleworth Crown Court, west London, accused of spending £685,000 on credit cards belonging to the celebrity couple to buy designer goods and luxury holidays.

They each deny a single count of committing fraud by using a company credit card for personal gain between January 1 2008 and December 31 last year.