Dominic West Speaks About the Impact Those "Horrible" Lily James Affair Rumors Had on His Marriage
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Dominic West has officially been nominated for a Golden Globe for his role of Hot Prince Charles on The Crown, which means he'll likely be making a (somewhat rare!) red carpet appearance with his wife, Catherine FitzGerald.
Dominic and Catherine have been together forever, and their relationship has involved a lot of extremely posh romance as well as some very dramatic affair allegations. Obviously, we have a lot to cover, so let's start with this casual fact:
Catherine's Father Is a Knight
In a plot twist straight out of The Crown (or Bridgerton, if you're horny), it turns out Catherine is as close as you can get to being a princess in a castle without actually being Kate Middleton. Here's the deal: Catherine's dad is Desmond FitzGerland, the 29th Knight of Glin and casual member of the FitzGerald dynasty—who have been peers of Ireland since the 13th century.
Catherine Is a Former Viscountess
Before marrying Dominic, Catherine was married to Ned Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham. Meaning that for a while there—on top of the whole "my dad's a knight" thing—she was known as Viscountess Lambton.
She and Dominic Live in a Literal Castle
Specifically Glin Castle, her ancestral home in Ireland, which they've turned into an event space. (Note: these two also own homes in London and the Cotswolds, as you do.)
Catherine Is a Landscape Designer
She has worked on the gardens of several estates, including but not limited to something fancy called Hillsborough Castle (as well as her own castle, obviously). She's written about landscaping for multiple publications and is clearly passionate about the subject!
She and Dominic Met in College
These two first connected at Trinity College but went their separate ways before eventually reuniting.
“We had a wonderful love affair,” Catherine told The Irish Times (via Marie Claire). “We would look over Dublin, reading poetry to one another with the mountains in the distance. We had all the time in the world to explore the pubs and back streets and walk the canal. But at the end of the summer, I left him. And he has not let me forget it! But I couldn’t have settled down with him right then forever. That would not have been a good idea for either of us.”
Years later, Dominic settled in London and "a mutual friend brought him to meet me. We were both, then, at the right time in our lives. And it was lovely to have that shared history, from earlier days. There’s something about having lived a full life before settling down–I felt I could throw myself into family life and having babies with gusto. And I really went for it, having four in seven years! But we are totally devoted to each other and to our full, vibrant family life together.”
These two ended up getting married in 2010 and have four kids named Dora, Senan, Francis, and Christabel. (Dominic also has a daughter named Martha from a previous relationship.)
Oh, and fun fact: Senan played young Prince William on The Crown!
They Overcame Affair Allegations Back in 2020
TL;DR: Dominic was photographed looking somewhat cozy (the PDA was PDA-ing in photos obtained by the Daily Mail) with his then-costar Lily James. One day after the pics dropped, he and Catherine left a note for photographers outside their home that read, "Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together. Thank you. Catherine and Dominic."
Oh, and they also posed for a kiss:
According to an Us Weekly source, Dominic and Catherine issued the statement to the press because they “wanted to put up a united front,” but Catherine and Lily “were both horrified by the pictures." Meanwhile, Lily told The Guardian, “Ach, I’m not really willing to talk about that. There is a lot to say, not now, I’m afraid.”
More recently, Dominic told The Sunday Times “I hesitate to speak on my wife’s behalf because it was obviously horrible, particularly for her. But we do joke about it sometimes. Because whenever we went out together, the papers would always say we were ‘putting on a show of unity.’ Even if we’d just been rowing about parking the car or whatever, even if that couldn’t be further from the truth. And so when we go out we do sort of say, ‘Shall we go and have a show of unity up in London?’”
ANYWAY! It seems like things are going well for Catherine and Dominic these days, because she (and their kids!) accompanied him to the premiere of The Crown season 5!
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