Another royal actress who moved to California details 'wonderful' Royal Family
Meghan and Harry weren't the first royals to move to the Golden State. Lord and Lady Fredrick Windsor married in 2009, but moved to California for a few years so wife Sophie Winkleman could continue her acting career.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's move to California made waves around the world, but it turns out there are two other royals who beat the Sussexes to the punch.
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Sophie Winkleman has featured in shows like Two and a Half Men, Peep Show, Death in Paradise, Trust, This Is Going To Hurt and Sanditon - but she is also a member of the Royal Family often seen alongside King Charles III and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In 2009, she married Lord Frederick Windsor at Hampton Court Palace, becoming a member of the Royal Family. All of the senior members of the Firm were present at the couple's wedding.
She previously detailed her experience moving into the Royal Family, telling The Times in 2020: "I’ve been incredibly welcomed with open arms by all of them.
"I haven’t had a single negative experience. The Queen’s been wonderful, Prince Charles has been wonderful, Prince William’s been heaven. They’d never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some role. Everyone’s looked after me. Oh God, please don’t make me sound too gushing."
Lady Fredrick Windsor, as she became known after her marriage, regularly joins other Royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony - she attended the Queen's Platinum Jubilee as well as the Queen's funeral three months later.
The couple decided to move to the US for a few years after their marriage to allow Sophie to continue her work.
While the couple was in the States, they welcomed their first daughter, Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina Windsor, who was born in Los Angeles. She is 54th in line to the throne.
The couple later moved back to the UK, where they welcomed their second daughter, Isabella Alexandra May Windsor, who was born in London.
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They sent their girls to Thomas's School in Battersea in South West London, the same school at which Prince George and Princess Charlotte began their educations.
Although they have since moved back, it's notable the couple were able to split their time between the UK and the US long before Meghan and Harry made the move across the pond.
In 2017, Lady Fredrick Windsor was involved in a car crash Cambridgeshire which left her "a couple of millimetres away from paralysis".
She described the horrific incident during which she broke her back and had her "belly torn apart and basically in my lap".
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She spoke of how the Royal Family were instrumental during her recovery - King Charles III had his chef cook the family two meals a day for several weeks and Prince William asked after a paramedic colleague to ensure she was looked after.
"It was life-saving having this massive thing twice daily I didn’t have to worry about," she told Hello magazine. She added: "I heard from pretty much every member of Freddie’s family, I was spoiled to bits by them."
Sophie Lara Winkleman was born in Primrose Hill, London on August 5, 1980 to parents Cindy Black and Barry Winkleman. Her half sister is Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman.
She is married to Lord Fredrick Windsor, who is the son of Prince Michael of Kent, a paternal cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
