Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman is known by viewers for her fabulous dress sense and witty one liners, but some may not know about her connection to the royals.
Claudia, 49, is the daughter of Eve Pollard, a newspaper editor and journalist who edited several tabloids, and had become Lady Loyd after marrying former newspaper editor Sir Nicholas Lloyd before marrying Claudia’s father Barry Winkleman.
Barry and Eve later split and he found love with Cindy Black, a children’s author and journalist, and they welcomed daughter Sophie together.
The family all followed a media career path as Claudia’s half-sister also went into TV presenting after joining the National Youth Theatre in 1997.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Her biggest TV credits included Peep Show, Waking the Dead and Death in Paradise, but she also went on to star in some big films, starring in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as the older Susan Pevensie.
She also hit Hollywood as she bagged a role in Two and a Half Men as Ashton Kutcher’s love interest in 2011 after the couple moved to Los Angeles following their royal wedding, and also starred in CSI: Miami and voiced a character on Phineas and Ferb.
(Image: CBS via Getty Images)
Sophie’s personal life is just as glitzy, as she married Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, in Hampton Court Palace on 12 September 2009.
This union gave her the title of Lady Frederick Windsor, but the actress has continued to use her given name in her career,
Sophie and Lord Frederick share two daughters, welcoming Maud in 2013 while in Los Angeles, and Isabella in 2016 in London.
(Image: Channel 4)
The actress spoke about her time in the royal family in 2020, telling The Times: “I’ve been incredibly welcomed with open arms by all of them. I haven’t had a single negative experience.
“They’d never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some [racy] role.”
She also added that everyone “looked after her”, particularly the Queen and Prince Charles, describing them as “wonderful”, as she added that Prince William was “heaven”.
(Image: Getty Images)
Tragedy almost struck in 2017 when Sophie was involved in a car crash, leaving her with a broken back and foot after reportedly being a back-seat passenger in a chauffeur-driven car when the vehicle was struck by another.
As she recovered, she revealed Prince Charles arranged for his personal chef to deliver meals to the family twice a day for “weeks on end” to help them out while she was off her feet.
Sophie said: “It was life saving having this massive thing twice daily I didn’t have to worry about.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
