Sophie Winkleman was so determined not to succumb to the “posh bride” stereotype when she married Lord Frederick Windsor that she gave no thought to her hairstyle and walked down the aisle with a “disgusting” updo, she admitted.
The Peep Show star, who became Lady Frederick Windsor on September 12, 2009, was so unhappy with her hair on her big day that it was the first thing she mentioned to her future husband as she walked up to him.
And, instead of reassuring his girlfriend, Lord Frederick, the son of Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, couldn’t help but agree and wonder “what the hell” he had done, Sophie told him Tatler.
In a February 2024 interview republished to coincide with her 44th birthday, Sophie recalled her wedding 15 years ago and joked that her “hair and being an idiot” were her lasting memory of the occasion.
She said: ‘I was so determined not to be a bridezilla, I didn’t even decide on my hairstyle and I can’t explain to you how disgusting it looked.
Sophie Winkleman married Lord Frederick Windsor at Hampton Court Palace on September 12, 2009. While Sophie revealed that she regretted her “disgusting” hairstyle, onlookers surely agreed that she was a beautiful bride.
‘As I walked up to the altar, the first thing I said when I saw Freddie was, “I’m so sorry about the hair.” He said, “Yeah, what the hell have you done?”
Sophie wore her hair down, parted on one side and with slightly curled ends for her wedding, which took place at Hampton Court Palace.
Although Sophie – seemingly her own worst critic – was clearly unhappy with the look of her hair, onlookers surely agreed that she made for one stunning bride.
Sophie met her husband, who is 53rd in line to the throne and a second cousin of King Charles, 17 years ago on a New Year’s Eve night in Soho.
The mother-of-two has previously said she had very little involvement in her wedding, which was organised by her mother-in-law Princess Michael of Kent.
She explained: ‘I didn’t know anyone at my wedding. There were my best friends, but basically it was full of faces I’d never seen before.
‘My mother-in-law, Princess Michael of Kent, personally took charge of everything and did it brilliantly, even down to the dress I wore.’
The dress in question was a silk sequined gown with a sweetheart neckline and three-metre train by Anna Bystrova of Roza Couture, one of her mother-in-law’s favourite designers.
Sophie, also known as Lady Frederick Windsor, chose a belted yellow dress to attend Wimbledon with her husband this year.
Sophie wore her hair down and parted on the side, with the ends left in loose curls. Her dress was by Anna Bystrova from Roza Couture.
Sophie also joked that she and Lord Frederick “put on a totally Magic FM show” at their wedding reception, with their friend Bryan Adams singing their hit “Heaven” during the couple’s first dance.
Mother of two girls, Isabella, eight, and Maud, 10, Sophie reflected on the challenges of raising children.
She told Tatler: “Before I had children I didn’t realise I have the authority of a goldfish. I say ‘no’ and they laugh.”
However, she has managed to keep smartphones out of her daughters’ reach.
Sophie, who is “very good friends” with her in-laws and the wider Windsor family, explained how she received support from her “very dear friend” King Charles when she suffered serious injuries in a car crash in November 2017.
For three days, doctors did not know whether Sophie, who broke her foot and three bones in her back, would be paralyzed.
While Queen Elizabeth offered Sophie the use of the Buckingham Palace pool to help her heal, King Charles – then Prince of Wales – ensured his family received two cooked meals a day prepared by his Clarence House chef.
Sophie was born on 5 August 1980 in Primrose Hill, London, the daughter of her editor father Barry Winkleman and her writer mother Cindy Black.
Sophie and her “very dear friend” King Charles at Ascot in 2023. She has revealed how he gave her much-needed support following her car crash in 2017.
Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor pictured on the seventh day of Wimbledon this year
Actress Sophie (right) appeared in Two and a Half Men as Zoey, with Judy Greer and Ashton Kutcher.
The Cambridge-educated actor is the half-sister of presenter Claudia Winkleman.
However, Sophie and her sister had “very separate lives” as children because Claudia, who is nine years older, lived with their mother, former newspaper editor Eve Pollard.
Newlyweds Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor moved to Los Angeles after their wedding.
The couple spent seven years there and Sophie, who played Big Suze in the television comedy series Peep Show, continued her career as an actress and writer.
She played Zoey, the girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher’s character Walden, in the American comedy Two and a Half Men and has had roles in Death in Paradise, Sanditon and This is Going to Hurt.
