Actress Michelle Dockery, best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey, is expecting her first child with husband Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother of Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The couple married in September 2023 in a London ceremony, having announced their engagement a year earlier.
Dockery, 43, revealed her pregnancy at the Downton Abbey film premiere on Wednesday night. She met Jasper in 2019 through mutual friends and was already acquainted with Phoebe Waller-Bridge before dating her brother. Jasper has worked for a leading talent agency and previously managed One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson.
The actress previously suffered the tragic loss of her fiancé John Dineen, who died in 2015 at age 34 after a 15-month battle with a rare form of cancer. The couple had been introduced by Dockery's Downton Abbey co-star Allen Leech in 2013. Dockery described Dineen as 'my friend, my king, my hero, my everything' and said she considered herself a widow after his death.
Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge's wedding was attended by celebrity guests including Lily James and several Downton Abbey co-stars such as Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Lesley Manville, and Lesley Nicol. The bride wore a chic satin gown, while the groom opted for a traditional navy blue suit.
