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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    This Royal Bride Admits Her Wedding Hair Was "Disgusting" and Her Mother-in-Law "Took Over" Choosing Her Dress

    "I look back on it and think I should have worn a simpler dress," she revealed.

    Kristin Contino's avatar
    By Kristin Contino
    Published 29 May 2025 In News

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    Prince Michael of Kent and Sophie Winkleman, Queen Camilla, Kate Middleton, Princess Michael of Kent, Duchess Sophie, Prince Harry on the balcony at Buckingham Palace
    (Image credit: Getty Images)
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    Royal weddings require an intense amount of planning, even for those members of the family who aren't quite as much in the spotlight. When it came to the September 2009 nuptials of actress Sophie Winkleman and Lord Frederick "Freddie" Windsor, the bride was slightly more hands-off than usual—and apparently, her laid-back stance completely backfired.

    Sophie recently opened up to the Telegraph about her Hampton Court Palace wedding to Lord Frederick, whose father, Prince Michael of Kent, is Queen Elizabeth's first cousin. The Two and a Half Men actress admitted that life was so busy at the time that she let her future mother-in-law, Princess Michael of Kent, take the reins on planning.

    "It was such a blur because we had to move to Los Angeles the day after [the wedding], and I had to start a brand new job the day after that," she told the outlet. "So we got married on Saturday and moved everything, our whole lives, out to America the day after. And I’d been so concentrating on the work that I hadn’t thought about the wedding."

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    Sophie paid so little attention to the details that she now regrets her wedding hair, sharing, "my hair was so disgusting, and Freddie still gets upset about it. It was just disgusting."

    Freddie and Sophie Windsor on their wedding day outside Hampton Court Palace

    Sophie Winkleman married Lord Frederick Windsor on Sept. 12, 2009.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Princess Michael of Kent wearing a blue gown and pearl necklace

    Princess Michael of Kent, seen on Sophie and Freddie's wedding day, chose the bride's dress.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Lord Freddie Windsor and Sophie Winkleman on their wedding day

    Sophie admitted that she hated her wedding hair.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    And as for her gown, Princess Michael of Kent did the choosing, with Sophie noting that it "was very sweet and puffy, but I looked barking." (British to American translation: crazy).

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    The Peep Show actress continued that Princess Michael "sort of took it all over, and I actually didn’t mind at all. I thought, ‘Great, do everything.' I was concentrating on this acting job and saying goodbye to my darling granny, who wasn’t very well, and just doing other stuff."

    However, Sophie—who frequently joins the Royal Family for events like Royal Ascot and Princess Kate's annual Christmas carol service—said she wishes that she could go back and switch up her wedding day look. The mom of two admitted, "I look back on it and think I should have worn a simpler dress, and I should have got my hair blow-dried by someone who’d done it before."

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    Explore More
    Weddings
    Kristin Contino
    Kristin Contino
    Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

    Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

    Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

    Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

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