Sophie Winkleman isn't penning any love letters about royal grandeur. After all, the actor who became a part of the royal family after tying the knot with Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin once removed, Lord Frederick Windsor, in 2009, has candidly shared what it's been like to witness her relatives navigate their lives in the glare of the spotlight. "The more I get to know the royal family, the more I realize their lives are a living hell," Sophie, 45, told The Times in an interview published on November 12th. "And that level of unsolicited fame is a form of torture. None of them went on Pop Idol or anything to be famous."
She continued, "To have that sort of blinding spotlight in your face from birth, not knowing whom you can trust, not knowing if someone's going to betray you, people writing lies about you all the time, is just brutal. I feel for them all. I don't think a life with that much scrutiny and pressure is remotely healthy, but they have no choice."
While Sophie and her husband, who share daughters Maude, 11, and Isabella, 9, aren't working royals, she's always been aware of how intimidating her in-laws' popularity is in the UK. In fact, she witnessed that reputation during her wedding, when nearly all 400 of her guests were members of the royal family. "I didn't know anyone at my wedding," the Peep Show alum revealed in the interview. "I had my best pals there, but basically it was full of faces I'd never seen before."
Similar to their attendance at her wedding, Sophie noted that "the senior royals"—including King Charles III, Prince William, his wife Kate Middleton, and more—always add "huge prestige and heft" to any event they attend or charity they donate to. "The senior royals work tirelessly with thousands of charities in Britain and around the world, both behind the scenes and front-facing," she added. "The King's Trust is the greatest engine for social mobility in Britain."
As for her marriage to Lord Frederick, this isn't the first time Sophie—whose in-laws are the late monarch's cousin Prince Michael of Kent and his wife Princess Michael of Kent—has shared details about their high-profile nuptials. Earlier this summer, she revealed that due to her busy acting schedule, the couple didn't have enough time to plan the ceremony of their dreams. So, her mother-in-law stepped in and helped with certain details, including picking out Sophie's gown. "She sort of took it all over, and I actually didn't mind at all," she recalled to The Telegraph in May. "I thought, 'Great, do everything.' I was concentrating on this acting job and saying goodbye to my darling granny, who wasn't very well, and just doing other stuff." And while the Wonka alum would've opted for "a simpler dress," she's still grateful that her in-laws supported her during that stressful time. "Family isn't always perfect, but this lot are very sweet," she expressed. "I love them all."
