Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery is married to Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller Bridge’s brother Jasper, after finding love again following the tragic death of her fiancé
Actress Michelle Dockery found love with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s brother following the devastating loss of her fiancé. The Downton Abbey star, 43, married Jasper Waller-Bridge two years ago in a stunning London ceremony.
They wed in September 2023 having announced their engagement a year earlier. Michelle, who attracted global fame for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the hit BBC period drama Downton Abbey, met her now husband in 2019 through their friends.
The couple first went public together at the Rome Film Festival, with Michelle said to be friends with Fleabag creator Phoebe before dating Jasper. He has worked for a leading talent agency and previously managed One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson.
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Announcing their engagement in The Times, it read: “The engagement is announced between Jasper, son of Michael Waller-Bridge of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, and Teresa Waller-Bridge of Battersea, London, and Michelle Dockery, younger daughter of Michael and Lorraine Dockery of Gidea Park, Essex.”
Michelle and Jasper wed in September 2023 in a stunning London ceremony. The actress opted for a chic and simple satin gown to walk down the aisle while Jasper wore a traditional three-piece navy blue suit.
Celebrity guests included Mamma Mia actress Lily James and Michelle’s Downton Abbey co-star Joanne Froggatt. Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Lesley Manville and Lesley Nicol were also spotted watching the happy couple tie the knot.
Before she met Jasper, Michelle tragically suffered the loss of her fiancé John Dineen aged 34. The pair began dating in 2013, and while they kept their relationship largely out of the limelight, they were pictured together at several events.
Downton Abbey co-star Allen Leech introduced them. While she rarely spoke out about the relationship, Michelle described her partner as a “wonderful” man just months later in 2014.
She said at the time: “I have a wonderful man in my life from Ireland. We were introduced by Allen Leech. That’s all you need to know.” John sadly died in 2015, 15 months on from first being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
The couple never made it down the aisle and Michelle said she considered herself a widow at the loss of “my friend, my king, my hero, my everything”. Two years after John’s death she told the Guardian in 2017: “I don’t have the vocabulary to describe what it felt like.
“And what it still feels like. It is … sorry, give me a minute. I’ve never been more committed to anything in my life than to him. So at the time everything just shut down.
“Work, everything. Work didn’t matter. You suddenly become an [oncological] expert. This stuff becomes your world, and that of course was my priority.”
According to the Irish Independent, Michelle gave an emotional tribute to John at his funeral. The actress told the congregation at St James’ Catholic Church near Mr Dineen’s family home in the village of Waterfall: “I was honoured to know John. To love him and be loved by him.”
She then sang his favourite song – 1930s Hammerstein favourite The Folks Who Live on the Hill from the altar which was lined with some of John’s favorite items including a childhood cuddly toy monkey and a rugby shirt and tie.
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