Queen is 'wonderful' and Prince William is 'heaven' says actor who married royal
The Queen is “wonderful” and Prince William is “heaven” according to a Peep Show actor who married into the Royal Family.
Sophie Winkleman is married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the 49th in line to the throne, and is known for her role opposite David Mitchell and Robert Webb in the cult comedy Peep Show.
Unlike fellow actor Meghan Markle, Winkleman’s life as a minor royal means she is able to continue her day job - and she says the family has never tried to stop her in any of her roles.
She told The Times: “The Queen’s been wonderful, Prince Charles has been wonderful, Prince William’s been heaven. They’d never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some [racy] role. Everyone’s looked after me.”
The actor and mother-of-two also revealed the way the royals rallied to look after her after she was involved in a car crash in 2017.
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She recalled that Prince Charles had two meals a day cooked by the Clarence House chefs and sent round to the family “for weeks on end... It was life-saving having this massive thing twice daily I didn’t have to worry about”.
And Prince William asked an air ambulance friend of his to “take good care of her”. She even got a royal hospital visit from Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.
Winkleman, who is now known as Lady Frederick, said she had met Meghan, now the Duchess of Sussex “a few times” but had not got to know her.
She said: “She certainly has very admirable energy and focus.”
Lord Frederick is the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Prince Michael is one of the Queen’s cousins.
Princess Michael became the oldest British royal to contract coronavirus, when she fell ill in November. However her spokesman said she was over the worst and Winkleman said she is “in quite good fettle”.
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Lord and Lady Frederick married in 2009, in Hampton Court Palace, and they moved to Los Angeles soon after - another way they echo the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
But unlike Meghan, Lady Frederick took on acting jobs, adding Two and a Half Men to her catalogue, and some writing experience too.
And unlike Harry, Lord Frederick worked for banking giant JP Morgan while the couple enjoyed the Californian way of life.
The couple now lives in London, and have two daughters - Maud and Isabella.
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While they don’t take on royal duties, they are seen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with other royals during big events and get an invitation to the palace for the Queen’s Christmas lunch, when she is able to hold it.
Earlier this year, Winkleman admitted that she had given up on homeschooling her children during lockdown, but said she felt sad about the growing divide between rich and poor.
She told Tatler: “The teachers have been really brilliant, but I’ve been loath to stick my six-year-old in front of a screen all day long. She hasn’t done a lot of the lessons, so she’s probably a bit behind. I’m not doing brilliantly, that’s for sure.
“I’m very sad it’s increasing the divide between if you have money, you’re okay, and if you don’t, you’re not.”
Winkleman is now a patron for The Children’s Surgery Foundation, and an ambassador for The Big Issue.
