Sophie Winkleman, best known as Peep Show’s Big Suze has arrived at Princess Kate’s annual Christmas carol concert – and fans may not realise just how close the actress is to the Royal family

Actress Sophie Winkleman, best known for playing ‘Posho’ Big Suze in Peep Show, has arrived at Princess Kate’s annual Christmas carol concert.

Although she played an upper-crust character in the hit Channel 4 sitcom, fans may be surprised to learn just how closely linked Sophie is to the Royal family. Indeed, her marriage to Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince Michael of Kent, brought her into the same social circles as William and Kate – and their children even play together.

Sophie, who attended Royal Ascot back in June, arrived at Westminster Abbey with Lord Frederick and their children, looking festive in a smart tartan coat. But how exactly did the actress get on playdate terms with the Prince and Princess of Wales? Here, the Mirror looks at Sophie’s surprising royal link…

Actor Sophie will be attending Princess Kate’s annual carol service ( 
Image:
PA)
Sophie, who more recently appeared in the BBC medical drama This Is Going To Hurt, wed Lord Freddie, a financial analyst, at Hampton Court Palace in 2009, and they have two daughters, Maud and Isabella. The couple joined Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in the second carriage at the Procession, behind the King and Queen’s.

Lord Frederick, 45, is the son of Prince Michael of Kent, who is the Queen’s cousin. His father, Prince George, was the younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI. The actress has previously said she was welcomed into the clan with open arms, particularly by the Queen and King Charles.

Sophie and her husband on the Buckingham Palace balcony in 2017 ( 
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Getty Images)
Speaking to The Times, Sophie, 44, said: “I’ve been incredibly welcomed with open arms by all of them… They’d never tell me off at all if I wanted to play some [racy] role.” Following their wedding, the couple moved to the US so that Sophie could further pursue her acting career and Maud, 10, was born while they were living in California.

The couple later moved back to the UK and welcomed their second daughter Isabella, eight, in 2016. Sophie became the new royal patron of Children’s Surgery Foundation and later became the first female patron of School-Home Support.

She was a guest at the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as at the 2019 wedding of her sister-in-law Lady Gabriella Windsor. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Sophie revealed that she sang at Lady Gabriella’s wedding. The talented soprano said: “I sang one of my sister-in-law’s favourite songs, Will You Love Me Tomorrow. There were a few tears but I’m not sure if it was because they were moved or wanted me to stop!”

The couple pictured at the christening of their daughter Maud in 2013 ( 
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Rex Features)
Her children are very close in age to the Prince and Princess of Wales’ kids – and Sophie has spoken in detail about her daughter Maud’s close bond with Prince George. In an interview with Hello, she said: “We were invited to tea at Kensington Palace just before Princess Charlotte was born. Maud and George got on very well… He is a very clever, articulate little boy and was speaking long before other toddlers his age.”

George and Maud both started at Thomas’s school in Battersea on the same day in September 2017. Speaking about her name, Lord Freddie told Hello! in 2013: “We liked the idea of an old-fashioned English name, and there are a couple of Princess Mauds in my father’s family from a hundred years ago – one was the youngest daughter of Edward VII who ended up being Queen of Norway, and another a grand-daughter of Edward VII by his daughter Princess Louise. It’s also a beautiful, elegant name, and it was always our first choice.”

Maud was also pictured next to Princess Charlotte when they both served as bridesmaids at Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank on October 12, 2018. Due to their lowly ranking in the line of succession, we rarely see Lord Freddie, Sophie, Maud or their youngest daughter, Isabella, at royal events.

Peep Show fans were gutted when the star didn’t turn up at the King’s Coronation in May 2023. Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to lament: “Disappointed we never saw Big Suze”. Sophie was, however, present at the Queen’s state funeral in September 2022.

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Channel 4)
Sophie’s Peep Show character, Big Suze, was Jeremy’s ex-girlfriend who was mentioned in the second episode of the show but does not appear until the third series. In the show, Mark starts falling in love with the incredibly posh woman and Jez wants to rekindle their romance, but she starts going out with Alan Johnson.

Big Suze’s poshness is often played for laughs in Peep Show, with Mark once commenting: “God, she’s so posh, that I, Mark Corrigan, who was privately educated until dad’s British Aerospace shares went kaput, could be her bit of rough.” Her ‘Big’ nickname comes from her height, but in an interview on the Podcast Secrets of the Pharaohs, Sophie explained that show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong initially alluded that Big Suze may have been ‘big’ in the past but she is no longer so.

Ahead of tonight’s service, Kate wrote a heartwarming letter addressed to the 1,600 Abbey carol goers, including royal family members, telling them: “Love is the light that can shine bright, even in our darkest times”.

A message included with the order of service, which features artwork by illustrator Charlie Mackesy, reads: “This Carol Service is a heartfelt celebration of every one of you, and a reminder that at Christmas, and throughout the year, we must all shine for each other. Because in times of joy and sadness, we are all each other’s light.”

The festive event will be broadcast as part of the programme Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, which will be screened on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve. It will feature three films about the stories of individuals and organisations who have inspired, counselled and comforted others during times of need.