Before Harry & Meghan, This Royal Couple Was The First To Move To The United States

Dec 28, 2022 by apost team

The British Royal Family is not just only a permanent fixture in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth but for the entire world too. 

In the past few decades, the media attention had only been focused on only a few royal members. This includes Edward VIII, who was infamously known for his abdication and subsequent assumption of George VI. After King George's death, his daughter, the late Queen Elizabeth, and her family became the royals that the public has been attuned to. 

Perhaps the biggest controversy that Queen Elizabeth's family faced was the then-marriage of Prince Charles to Princess Diana and the affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Not only were the British media and the public hooked on this drama, but the whole world and even the United States were at a standstill when Diana talked about the affair in the widely-criticized Panorama interview. 

Fast forward to the 2010s, Diana and Charles' sons, the next-in-line to the crown, basked in the glory of the public eye with their eventual marriages to their wives. Their eldest, Prince William, wed Kate Middleton in 2011 and had three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis. On the other hand, Prince Harry tied the knot with American actress Meghan Markle in 2018. 

But after the Charles-Diana-Camilla affair, Harry & Meghan's marriage, shocking step down as senior royals, and relocating to the United States for good, became a massive talking point for essentially everyone in the world. 

It is quite an unusual move for members of the British royal family to move to another country, especially not a member of the Commonwealth, and live there outside their jurisdiction. But it turns out; the couple wasn't the first to make that huge leap overseas. 

Contrary to popular belief, Prince Harry and Meghan were not the first royal couple who moved to the United States after their wedding. 

According to Insider, Lord Frederick Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman, were the first royals to leave the United Kingdom and settle in the United States. 

For those who could not recall, Lord "Freddie" Windsor is the only son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Currently, he is 52nd in the line of succession to the British throne. He has a younger sister, Lady Gabriella Kingston. 

On the other hand, his wife Sophie, formally known as Lady Frederick Windsor, is an American actress. She has gained prominence as Big Suze in "Peep Show," Sharon Kirby in "CSI Miami," and a recurring guest on the hit series "Two and a Half Men" as Zoey. 

Born in Primrose Hill in London, Sophie was born to Barry and Cindy Winkleman, who are well-known book writers and publishers. She was educated at the City of London School for Girls and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she took a special interest in English literature. 

In 2009, Freddie married Sophie in a modest wedding ceremony at Hampton Court's Great Hall, but a day after their wedding, the couple moved to Los Angeles, California, for work. 

Sophie returned to her acting career while Freddie continued his work as a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase until 2015, but assumed the role of Executive Director of the company on October 2015 and is now based in London.  

In 2013, the couple had their daughter, Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina, in Los Angeles. Their second child, Isabella Alexandra May, was born on January 2016 in Chelsea, London. Their daughters went to Thomas's School in Battersea, London, the same school as Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

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Sophie has praised the experience of marrying Freddie and into the British Royal Family numerous times. 

In an interview with The Times in 2020, Sophie was almost "gushing" after recalling her interactions with some of the more senior royals.

"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 [racy] role. Everyone's looked after me," she told the publication. 

The love and care for her even extended when she got into an almost-fatal car accident in 2017. Speaking to Hello Magazine, Sophie revealed how the family tried to tend to her needs during her recovery. 

"Sophie Wessex came to visit me in hospital and was so helpful and lovely, and the Cambridges sent some wonderful flowers," she revealed to the magazine. I know William rang up Addenbrooke's for me because one of his very good friends is the air ambulance guy there. So when he heard about it, William called and said: 'Sophie is my cousin, please take good care of her,' which was very lovely. I heard from pretty much every member of Freddie's family; I was spoiled to bits by them."

Sophie had been spotted joining the rest of the British Royal Family many times before. She was with them at the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee and eventually at the funeral and committal service last September 2022. 

She was also present previously at the wedding of Kate and William and even sang a special song at her sister-in-law Lady Gabriella's wedding in 2019. 

Did you know about Lady Sophie and Lord Freddie? What do you think about their move to relocate to the United States a day after their wedding? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other Royal Family fans!