Royal Family member bags leading role in period drama from the creator of Downton Abbey

Royal Family member in Belgravia Season 2 and fans of the hit show are pretty hyped to see the aristocracy played by an actual aristocrat

Princess Michael of Kent, Prince Harry, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Michael of Kent and Sophie Winkleman, Lady Frederick Windsor, celebrate the Queen's official birthday by taking part in the Trooping the Colour parade on June 11, 2011 in London, England. The ceremony of Trooping the Colour is believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II. In 1748, it was decided that the parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the Sovereign. More than 600 guardsmen and cavalry make up the parade, a celebration of the Sovereign's official birthday, although the Queen's actual birthday is on 21 April.
(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

From reality TV to period drama - working members of the Royal Family are certainly growing fond of the hustle and bustle of the TV world. This time around it's Lady Frederick Windsor, an established actor, who's the Royal Family member in Belgravia Season 2.  We'll bet you recognize her from these hit shows.


Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Lady Frederick Windsor and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel on May 18, 2019 in Windsor, England.

(Image credit: Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Images)

The man behind one of the best period dramas in history, Downton Abbey, is well-versed in scripting members of the aristocratic elite. However, it's not every day that Lord Julian Fellowes manages to bag an actual Lady to play a Lady - like in this instance.

Lady Frederick Windsor, who's married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael of Kent, will be playing the part of Lady Rochester - a lead character in the second season of the show.

Per the Daily Mail, Richard Eden reports, "the 42-year-old is, I'm told, set to play the part of aristocrat Lady Rochester, which is one of the pivotal roles in the story."

Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Michael of Kent with Sophie Windsor attend a National Service of Thanksgiving for the Queens reign at St Pauls Cathedral on June 3, 2022 in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 5, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.

(Image credit: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/ Getty Images)

This is far from a little foray into the acting world as the Lady, whose professionally known by her pre-marriage name Sophie Winkleman, has starred in many high profile roles.

Perhaps she's most recognizable for playing the one and only Big Suze on the hit comedy series Peep Show, which aired on UK's Channel 4. She's also starred in hit shows including Sanditon, Two And A Half Men, Death in Paradise, Poirot, and This is Going to Hurt.

Lord Freddie Windsor poses with his bride Sophie Winkleman in the Base Court, minutes after their wedding in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace on September 12, 2009 in Richmond upon Thames, England.

(Image credit: John Stillwell/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sophie married Lord Frederick Windsor back in 2009 and the pair share two children. Her half-sister is a well-known UK TV presenter, Claudia Winkleman - best known for working on Strictly Come Dancing.

One of the luxuries of being a non-working member of the Royal Family is having a career and even being able to be outspoken about one's opinions and relationships. Actor Sophie has grabbed both the former and the latter opportunities by the horns - as evidenced in an article she wrote for the Spectator in December 2022.

Zara Phillips and Sophie Winkleman arrive for reception a hosted by the Lord Mayor of London at The Guildhall in London on June 3, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. - Queen Elizabeth II kicked off the first of four days of celebrations marking her record-breaking 70 years on the throne, to cheering crowds of tens of thousands of people.

(Image credit: Paul ELLIS / AFP/Getty Images)

"I cherish my growing closeness to the senior members of the Royal Family," said the actor, "who are so hardworking, uncomplaining, and brave in the face of relentless and brutal media attention, criticism, lies, undermining and fictional TV programs – and always so good to me that I’m honored to know them."

It's fair enough to make the assumption that the TV show in question is The Crown and that we shouldn't expect Sophie to star in the hit series any time soon.

Aoife Hanna
Junior News Editor

Aoife is an Irish journalist and writer with a background in creative writing, comedy, and TV production.

Formerly woman&home's junior news editor and a contributing writer at Bustle, her words can be found in the Metro, Huffpost, Delicious, Imperica and EVOKE.

Her poetry features in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology.

Outside of work you might bump into her at a garden center, charity shop, yoga studio, lifting heavy weights, or (most likely) supping/eating some sort of delicious drink/meal.