Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery revealed she’s pregnant with her first child at the premiere of the franchise’s new film, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.
The 43-year-old actor, who’s played Lady Mary Crawley in the series since it first hit screens 15 years ago, debuted her baby bump in a blue strapless gown at the ceremony in London’s Leicester Square.
Dockery is welcoming her first child with her husband, Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother to Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who she married in September 2023.
The star married Waller-Bridge at St Nicholas' church in Chiswick in 2023, with her Downton co-stars Hugh Bonneville, Lesley Manville and Lesley Nicol in attendance.
Dockery’s wedding came seven years after the tragic death of her fiancé, Irish publicist John Dineen, who died 15 months after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, aged 34.
Although Dockery and Dineen never married, the actor told The Guardian they were “engaged, and married at heart”, so she still considered herself a widow following her fiancé’s death.
Dockery found love again after meeting Waller-Bridge through a mutual friend in 2019 and became involved with the film producer, having spent time with him at the Rome Film Festival.
Downton Abbey stars gathered at the event on Wednesday (3 September) to celebrate the release of the franchise’s farewell film, which is set in the 1930s.
The conclusion will follow the 7th Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) as he plans to pass down his estate to his daughter, Lady Mary (Dockery).
However, news of Mary’s divorce from Matthew Goode’s Henry Talbot puts her impending stewardship in jeopardy as the family’s financial troubles could see them sell and leave the abbey for good.
In her three star review, The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey said Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is “proof that this franchise simply must end”.
She wrote: “There’s no escaping the fact that this film, once again, feels like two episodes of the TV series have been smashed together.”
Earlier this week, Downton creatorJulian Fellowes said he made the final film for the fans and didn’t expect critics to write about it kindly.
“I don’t need to read a review anymore – I could tell you what it says beforehand,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to attract new viewers any more and I was aware we were saying goodbye.”
