By Molly Claire Goddard
1:08pm PST, Nov 13, 2025
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Sophie Winkleman, who's also known as Lady Frederick Windsor, pulled back the curtain on what it's really like being a member of the royal family.
Keep reading to see what she said…MORE:
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Sophie Winkleman — who married
Lord Frederick Windsor, son of
Prince Michael of Kent, who is
Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin — told
The Times how difficult life is for members of the royal family. "The more I get to know the royal family, the more I get that their lives are total hell and that level of unasked-for fame is a form of torture," she said.
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Sophie Winkleman emphasized that members of the royal family did not choose lives in the spotlight. "None of them went on [the British reality TV competition show] Pop Idol or something to be famous. To have that sort of blinding spotlight in your face from when you're born, not knowing quite whom you can trust, not knowing if someone's going to betray you, people writing lies about you the whole time, is just brutal," the actress said. "I feel for them all. I don't think a life with that much scrutiny and pressure is remotely healthy."
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Sophie Winkleman married into the royal family in 2009. "I didn't know anyone at my wedding. I had my best pals there, but basically it was full of faces I'd never seen before," she said. The Two and a Half Men star is often photographed attending official events with her husband, Lord Frederick Windsor, and senior members of The Firm.
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Among all members of the royal family,
Prince Harry — who left his role as a working member of The Firm in 2020 — has been the most vocal about the intense pressure he and his relatives face. "We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health," the Duke of Sussex said during a 2021
appearance on
The Late Late Show With James Corden.
