A Hollywood actress who married into the royal family says she 'didn't know anyone' at her wedding
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- Sophie Winkleman told Tatler that she didn't know most of the people who attended her royal wedding.
- Winkleman married Lord Freddie Windsor in London in 2009.
- The actress is best known for starring in "Two and a Half Men" and most recently, "Wonka."
"Wonka" actress Sophie Winkleman has shared new details about her royal wedding — including that she didn't know most guests.
Speaking to Tatler for its February 2024 issue, published digitally on Thursday, Winkleman reflected on her nuptials to Lord Frederick "Freddie" Windsor, the second cousin of King Charles, in 2009.
Winkleman said she first met Freddie on New Year's Eve in Soho, London, in 2006, and that he recognized her from her role as Big Suze in the British sitcom "Peep Show," which aired from 2003 until 2015.
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The couple married at London's Hampton Court Palace in September 2009 and the ceremony was attended by around 400 guests, the Daily Mail's Rebecca English reported at the time.
Senior royals including Queen Elizabeth II, the then-titled Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry weren't in attendance, English reported.
Winkleman had a hands-off approach to wedding planning
"I didn't know anyone at my wedding. I had my best pals there but basically it was full of faces I'd never seen before. My mother-in-law, Princess Michael of Kent, took full personal charge of it all and did it brilliantly, including what dress I was wearing," Winkleman told the publication.
Winkleman's wedding dress was designed by Anna Bystrova for Roza Couture and had lace sleeves, a silk, voluminous skirt, and a 10-foot detachable train, according to English's report for the Daily Mail. It cost £5,000, or around $6,364, and the price was reduced since Princess Michael was friends with the designer, according to the Daily Mail.
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Winkleman wore her hair in loose waves and accessorized with a diamond headpiece. Speaking to Tatler, Winkleman said she hadn't been happy with how it looked on the day.
"I was so determined not to be a bridezilla, I didn't even work out my hairstyle and I cannot tell you how disgusting it looked," Winkleman said.
"Coming up the aisle, the first thing I said when I saw Freddie was, 'I'm so sorry about the hair.' He said, 'Yes, what on earth have you done?' That's pretty much all I can remember about it," she added.
Following their wedding, Winkleman and Freddie briefly lived in LA, and it wasn't long before she was cast in the ninth and 10th seasons of "Two and a Half Men." Speaking to Business Insider in 2021, Winkleman said most of her colleagues in Hollywood had no idea that she was a royal because she kept her maiden name.
The couple moved back to the UK shortly after their first daughter, Maud, was born in 2013. Their second daughter, Isabella, was born in 2016.
More recently, Winkleman portrays the Duchess of Rochester in the ITV series "Belgravia: The Next Chapter," and The Countess in the film "Wonka" alongside Hugh Grant and Timothée Chalamet.