All About Kate Winslet’s Husband Edward Abel Smith, the Hunk Formerly Known as 'Ned Rocknroll'
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Get to know the man who won over Kate Winslet—and how she got him to finally change his name to something normal.
Kate Winslet is one of the most talented actresses to ever grace the screen. She is the youngest person to have earned six Academy Award nominations, with seven nominations in total and one Best Actress win for 2008’s The Reader. That said, her love life hasn’t always been as blessed as her career.
After some high-profile relationships and two divorces, Winslet is on her third marriage. What it is about this relationship that has worked so well? And what does it take to land such a talented beauty?
Here is everything you need to know about Kate Winslet’s husband Edward Abel Smith.
Who is Kate Winslet's husband?
First thing’s first, who is Kate Winslet’s husband? Kate Winslet has been married to Edward Abel Smith, birth name Ned Abel Smith, since December 2012. The pair met the year before in 2011 and got engaged in secret in the summer of 2012. At the wedding, Winslet was walked down the aisle by her Titanic and Revolutionary Road co-star and close friend, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Why did Kate Winslet's husband change his name?
At the time that they met, Kate Winslet’s now-husband was going by the name Ned Rocknroll. Yeah, we think that’s pretty strange too. Abel legally changed his name to the absurd moniker in 2008. However, in 2019, a few years after the birth of their son Bear, Ned changed his name to the much less flashy Edward Abel Smith.
Abel’s first wife, British socialite Eliza Pearson, described the reasoning behind the name change to The Daily Mail (via Entertainment Tonight). “The whole thing was about having fun with your name. He thought we all took ourselves too seriously so it was about reacting against it. He looked into just being ‘Ned’, with no surname at all but, apparently, that’s illegal so we couldn’t do it.”
In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Winslet also explained the odd choice in names that her husband made. "So his birth name is Abel Smith. And as time went by and Ned became Ned—who is quite an original personality—he just decided at one point in his life to just change his name to Rocknroll. Ned Rocknroll. So when I met him, his name was Ned Rocknroll. This is completely true."
She went on to describe why he changed his name back to a more traditional form of his birth name. "When he changed his name to Rocknroll, I don't think he had anticipated what might happen if he should have a girlfriend whose name was Kate Winslet and who was quite well-known and therefore the press might kind of not react so well to the fact that she had this boyfriend called then Rocknroll. So, it was a little tricky… I got to the point where I'm like, you know, I'm filling in doctors' forms and it says ' mother's name' and 'father's name', and I'm like, 'Honey…are we going to keep going?’ And he's like, 'Yeah, you're right. I'll just change it back.' So, he changed it back."
Related: 15 Kate Winslet Quotes that Make Us Love Her
Is Kate Winslet still married to Edward Abel Smith?
It would appear that Kate Winslet and Edward Abel Smith are still married and still in love. Winslet gushed about her husband as recently as September 2021, in the Emmy press room right after her Emmy win for Mare of Easttown.
"When I was here 10 years ago with Mildred Pierce we had actually just met. I knew that I was going to spend my life with this man. We're getting to the Emmys and I was just so in a whirlwind of having just met him that I couldn't even concentrate and I vividly remember making an absolutely appalling speech because I was not on planet earth because I had fallen head over heels in love with this person who I just met. So to have him here, it's really quite special."
It takes a real special man to distract you from your Emmy win!
Related: 18 Fun Facts About Mare of Easttown Star Kate Winslet
What does Edward Abel Smith do?
Smith is the nephew of Richard Branson, the owner and founder of Virgin Group. As a result, he is the Head of Marketing, Promotion, and Astronaut Experience at Virgin Galactic, which according to Time is a title he came up with himself.
How is Edward Abel Smith related to Richard Branson?
As mentioned above, Edward Abel Smith is the nephew of Virgin Group owner and founder (and eccentric British billionaire), Richard Branson.
Related: 20 Richest People In the World—And How They Made Their Fortunes
How did Kate Winslet meet Edward Abel Smith?
The pair first met in August 2011 at Necker Island, Richard Branson’s private island located in the Caribbean. Winslet was one of 20 guests that were staying in Branson's fourteen-bedroom "Great House."
The stay was not all sunshine and roses as, after a fire broke out at the $70 million mansion due to Hurricane Irene, Winslet had to rescue Branson’s 90-year-old mother.
Branson was quoted in The Telegraph crediting Winslet, "My mum is 90 and can walk, but it was more just to speed the process up than anything else. But anyway, she was great. She swept her up into her arms and got them out of the house as fast as possible."
If that’s not a great way to endear yourself to your future in-laws, I don’t know what is!
