Claudia Winkleman is back on screens tonight, fronting Celebrity Traitors, but she’s not the only famous person in her family – she has close ties to the royals, despite once branding the Coronation ‘Tory Christmas’
Claudia Winkleman might be best known for fronting Celebrity Traitors, but she has a very close relationship with the Royal Family. Today, the gripping BBC show returns with a fresh horde of famous faces hoping to navigate the programme’s tricky challenges without being caught as Traitors.
While Claudia, 54, is known to millions, her husband Kris Thykier is also famous in his own right. Kris, also 54, is a film producer credited with a number of blockbuster films and shows, including Kick-Ass, The Woman in Gold and Riviera.
Claudia and her husband, with whom she shares Jake, Matilda and Arthur, keep their private life away from the spotlight, but the presenter previously discussed the lengths she would go to for her kids. This included threatening to quit Strictly if it clashed with the date her son moved to university. Thankfully, it didn’t, but Claudia left her role as presenter on the show last year.
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They met when she was 26, with the star describing him as “adorable, tall, Danish,” and Stevie Wonder’s “As” becoming their favourite track. She later joked that she “married him about five minutes later”. They tied the knot in 2000.
Claudia isn’t just television royalty as she has a tie to the King. The star was an only child until her parents, Eve Pollard and Barry Winkleman, divorced in 1975. After Barry remarried Cindy Black, he went on to welcome daughter Sophie Winkleman, 46, an actress.
While Sophie is best known for playing Big Suze in the sitcom Peep Show, she married into the House of Windsor in September 2009 when she tied the knot with Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, at Hampton Court Palace. Claudia acted as one of Sophie’s bridesmaids at the royal wedding.
Upon their marriage, Sophie has been styled as Lady Frederick Windsor, but uses her maiden name for work purposes. Their wedding was attended by Lady Gabriella Kingston, Princess Eugenie, the Duke and the late Duchess of Kent, Lady Helen Taylor, and Sophie’s sister Claudia. In keeping with royal marriages, the late Queen Elizabeth consented to the marriage, as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772.
Now, he and Sophie are 54th in line to the throne. Frederick was a first cousin once removed of the late Queen, a first cousin twice removed of the late Prince Philip and is also the second cousin once removed of King Charles – meaning Claudia has a distant relation to His Majesty.
While neither Claudia nor Sophie frequently opens up about their regal in-laws, Sophie has, on rare occasions, spoken about her family. “Family isn’t always brilliant, but this lot are very sweet,” she said on the Daily T podcast. She went on to add: “I love all of them.”
She went on to add: “I’ve got much more friendly with them as I’ve got to know them.” In an interview with HELLO! Magazine, she said of Catherine, Princess of Wales: “She’s wonderful. I last saw her at Wimbledon; it was so cheering to see her, beautiful as ever. She’s been amazingly brave and is doing so well.”
Reflecting on her cousin-in-law, the King, Sophie told the outlet: “Duty and service run through him like a stick of rock; it just doesn’t occur to him to rest, something which those who love him are desperate for him to do. He’s battling cancer and doesn’t give himself a moment off – he’s a hugely inspirational man.
“The central royal family work very hard. It’s not an easy existence, having a spotlight on you from the second you’re born. I count pretty much every one of them as a trusted friend. I’m very lucky.” Following the Coronation of King Charles in 2023, Claudia described the event as “Tory Christmas“.
But this isn’t Claudia’s only connection with the royals – it’s said that the broadcaster has a close bond with Her Majesty Queen Camilla, who is “one of Strictly’s greatest fans.”
Tess Daly’s husband Vernon Kay said: “Camilla and Tess have a real friendship through it now. They don’t text, but we have mutual friends and messages come through. When they see each other, the Queen is always asking: ‘Who is your favourite?’ She wants to know the backstage gossip. It’s crazy to think of the King and Queen sat on the sofa with a brew watching your wife present Strictly.”
The late Queen Elizabeth was also a fan of the show, and Princess Catherine is said to be a huge fan. Meanwhile, Princess Anne previously confessed that she would love to sign up for the show, according to professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova.
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