Meghan Markle gave up acting as soon as she got engaged to Prince Harry, but Sophie Winkleman has shown you don’t have to abandon your showbusiness ambitions after marrying into the Royal Family.

Sophie, who is the half-sister of Strictly Come Dancing co-host Claudia Winkleman, is best known as Big Suze in Channel 4 comedy series Peep Show.

In these exclusive photographs, she is pictured in costume on set in Edinburgh, filming the second series of Julian Fellowes’s 19th-century period drama Belgravia. 

Sophie, 42, was spotted filming in Edinburgh’s West End alongside co-star Ben Wainwright, wearing a purple velvet period costume.

It was revealed in February that Sophie, wife of Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, had been cast as Lady Rochester.

New project: Sophie Winkleman has shown you don’t have to abandon your showbusiness ambitions after marrying into the Royal Family (pictured filming Belgravia)

Married life: It was revealed in February that Sophie, wife of Lord Frederick Windsor (pictured), the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, had been cast as Lady Rochester 

It was reported that Sophie will play a ‘pivotal’ role in the new series. 

Belgravia: The Next Chapter, is set 25 years on from where the last one left off and will tell an entirely new story.

The first series aired on ITV in early 2020, starring Philip Glenister and Tamsin Greig.

Sophie married into the Royal Family in 2009, but she was well accustomed to life in the spotlight, having been born into the media elite.

Her father Barry Winkleman was a successful publisher and her mother is the children’s author Cindy Black.

During her father’s first marriage to Eve Pollard he welcomed her half-sister Claudia, who hosts BBC primetime show Strictly Come Dancing. 

A second series was mooted, but Lord Fellowes opted instead to sell the programme to the U.S. streaming service Epix, where he will serve as an executive producer on the show. 

Back to work: In these exclusive photographs, she is pictured in costume on set in Edinburgh, filming the second series of Julian Fellowes’s 19th-century period drama Belgravia

Action! Sophie, 42, was spotted filming in Edinburgh’s West End alongside co-star Ben Wainwright, wearing a purple velvet period costume

Glam squad: Sophie’s make-up was touched up by a make-up artist on set

Previously commenting on Sophie’s potential involvement in the series, Downton Abbey creator Fellowes told Richard Eden: ‘I think we’re very lucky…

‘I have worked with Sophie before, on my version of the Titanic story, and I am a fan, but these choices are made by a group, led by our director, John Alexander.’

The Daily Mail reached out for comment at the time of original publication.