HELPING THE HOMELESS WHILE FIGHTING TO PROTECT YOUNG MINDS LADY FREDERICK WINDSOR

OPENS UP ABOUT HER ADMIRATION FOR HER ROYAL RELATIVES

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

It’s been 15 years since Lady Frederick Windsor married into the “warm and supportive” royal family and, like her relatives, she is grateful to be given a platform to champion the issues she is passionate about.

“It’s a such a privilege to be able to talk about something you care about and for people to listen,” she tells hello!.

When we meet in a London studio for this exclusive interview and photoshoot, Lady Frederick – otherwise known as the actress Sophie Winkleman – is on a day off from her latest filming project.

And although she’s no stranger to the glamorous world of film sets and royal events, you are just as likely to find her chatting to a homeless person living on the streets.

Sophie is here to talk about her work with social enterprise the Big Issue Group, for which she has been an ambassador since 2020. Earlier this year, she joined vendors selling copies of the Big Issue magazine – just as the Prince of Wales has done.

HELPING HAND

“I talk to every homeless person I pass,” she says. “I find it sad when people simply walk past them. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any cash to spare; just communicate so they don’t feel invisible – even just a supportive smile.

“I remember selling with some vendors on a bitterly cold and wet Monday in January, trying to earn their way out of poverty in the freezing weather, and feeling overwhelmed with admiration.

“There is a scene in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess when Sara tells Becky the scullery maid: ‘It is just an accident that I am not you and you are not me.’ It’s always stayed with me.

“Homeless people are exactly the same as you and me, except something awful has happened to them. Also, the vast majority had a chaotic, frightening childhood.”