On screen in Downton Abbey, Michelle Dockery has experienced romance, loss and divorce as Lady Mary Crawley.
And as loyal viewers of the 15-year strong franchise wait to see what befalls her character in the final film, in real life the actress has found her happy ending.
At Wednesday night’s London premiere of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Michelle made a surprise pregnancy announcement, debuting her bump as she walked the red carpet with her husband Jasper Waller-Bridge.
Michelle, 43, and Jasper, 37, a former talent agent for the likes of Holly Willoughby turned production company co-founder, married in a romantic London ceremony in 2023 after meeting through a famous connection.
The couple are thought to have been introduced in Los Angeles in 2019 through Jasper’s sister Phoebe, 36, who created and starred in Fleabag and wrote Killing Eve.
Their meeting came four years after the tragic loss of Michelle’s fiance John Dineen, who died in 2015.
At Wednesday’s premiere of Downton Abbey Michelle made a pregnancy announcement, debuting her bump as she walked the red carpet with her husband Jasper Waller-Bridge
Their meeting came four years after the tragic loss of Michelle’s fiance John Dineen (pictured together in 2014)
The star was left heartbroken in 2015 when her partner, Irish publicist John, died following a 15-month battle against a rare form of cancer aged 34.
The couple met in 2013 and he proposed just under two years later but the pair never made it down the aisle. However, in a rare interview in 2017 Michelle told how she still considered herself to be a widow.
Reflecting on how her life was mirroring one of her most prominent storylines on Downton – the loss of Lady Mary’s husband Matthew Crawley – Michelle admitted that ‘one of the difficult things at the time was the parallels with Mary.’
‘It was just baffling, and still is to me, that my character’s storyline was so similar.’
She added: ‘I refer to myself as a widow, yes. We were engaged, and married at heart, and so I do consider myself a widow. That’s the first time I’ve said that, and it’s a bit of a relief to say so.’
‘I don’t have the vocabulary to describe what it felt like. And what it still feels like,’ she said two years after John’s death. ‘I’ve never been more committed to anything in my life than to him.
Grief-stricken actress Michelle led mourners at the December 2015 County Cork funeral of her fiancé and paid an emotional tribute to ‘my friend, my king, my hero, my everything’ before she sang his favourite song.
During the funeral, the actress stood at the altar and paid tribute to her partner, telling the congregation: ‘I was honoured to know John. To love him and be loved by him,’ before singing her partner’s favourite song – 1930s Hammerstein favourite ‘The Folks Who Live on the Hill’ – on the day before what would have been his 35th birthday.
The star was left heartbroken in 2015 when her partner, Irish publicist John, died following a 15-month battle against a rare form of cancer aged 34
She told mourners that she used to sing the song to John, adding that while he was ‘proverbially tall, dark and handsome,’ he was also a deeply intelligent and caring person.
‘Whether in his work or his personal life John was extremely loyal. It was clear that when John was in your corner he was there. I was honoured to know John,’ she said.
‘To love him and be loved by him. He was my friend, my King, my hero, my everything. We celebrate him, we honour him and we will miss him.’
She had cut short a trip promoting Downton Abbey in the US to be by her partner’s side in his final hours at a hospice near the home of his parents, Patrick and Marie.
The couple had been introduced by Michelle’s Downton co-star Allen Leech after John started working at a business consultancy firm in the City of London.
Reflecting on how her life was mirroring one of her most prominent storylines on Downton – the loss of Lady Mary’s husband Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens
Allen, who plays Tom Branson in the ITV period drama, previously said said of introducing them: ‘John’s like family to me and I knew he’d really get on with Michelle. She’s a great girl – probably as far from Lady Mary as you could imagine.’
He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in December 2014 before he and Michelle got engaged in February 2015.
After pioneering treatment in Germany was unsuccessful, he went home to spend time with his family.
In the days before his death Michelle put on a brave face during US TV show appearances for Downton and it seemed only those closest to her had any inkling that the man she planned to marry was in a hospice in Ireland.
A friend said at the time: ‘They had a goal of spending one last Christmas together, but in the end he didn’t make it. They were planning to marry before he got too ill and never managed to do that because Michelle had a bunch of work commitments she couldn’t get out of.
Michelle, who grew up in Romford, Essex, and West London born Jasper set up home in a substantial £1.9million terrace in north London during the pandemic (pictured at Wimbledon in 2022)
‘John was so proud of her and very much encouraged her to keep on working, but she feels terrible that they didn’t manage to tie the knot in time.’
Michelle concentrated on work in the years after her loss, wrapping up the Downton TV series in 2015 and moving onto US small screen dramas including Good Behavior and Anatomy Of A Scandal alongside theatre work before her return to Lady Mary in the Downton movies.
It was during the Rome Film Festival promo for the first Downton Abbey movie in 2019 that rumours of her romance with Jasper were first sparked.
The pair’s relationship became public knowledge a month after that Rome trip.
Michelle, who grew up in Romford, Essex, and West London born Jasper set up home in a substantial £1.9million terrace in north London during the pandemic and were seen participating in the Clap for Carers from their doorstep.
Shortly after their 2023 engagement they made their red-carpet debut at the world premiere of Michelle’s miniseries Anatomy Of A Scandal in London (pictured)
Then in January 2022 they revealed they were to marry via an announcement in The Times newspaper.
Shortly after their engagement they made their red-carpet debut at the world premiere of Michelle’s miniseries Anatomy Of A Scandal in London.
A year later and Michelle’s Downton co-stars, Jasper’s sister Phoebe and the couple’s families celebrated their wedding in an intimate ceremony in Chiswick, West London.
After pre-ceremony drinks at the local pub and church vows, the couple channelled Downton with a reception at the opulent Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham.
The Grade 1 listed Octagon room, resplendent in baroque finery, was the perfect setting for the fairytale celebration.
The actress mused in a recent interview that after spending 15 years playing Lady Mary, she has learned to loosen her grip on future plans
The wedding, and now the pregnancy, marks a happy ending for Michelle just as Downton Abbey closes its doors for good.
The actress mused in a recent interview that after spending 15 years playing Lady Mary, she has learned to loosen her grip on future plans, declaring of the freedom she feels about her next chapter: ‘I’ve learned to just let things happen naturally.’
‘Hold things lightly, and let them just take their course.’
