Dominic West’s wife and prince bond over love of gardening
DOMINIC WEST may be all set to play Prince Charles in Netflix hit The Crown – but it’s his wife who has a better idea of what life is like for the heir to the British throne. For we can reveal that a charming – and rather unexpected – friendship has blossomed between Catherine FitzGerald and Prince Charles.
It may seem like an unusual alliance, but as a landscape gardener, Catherine shares a love of horticulture with the famously green-fingered royal.
She was chosen in 2014 to redesign the 100-acre gardens at Hillsborough Castle, the British royal family’s official residence in the North.
‘It’s rather sweet,’ a source said. ‘They have forged a bond over their mutual love of gardening.’
Catherine was raised in Glin Castle, Co. Limerick, a fairytale property set in 400 acres of woodland that has been in her family for more than 700 years. She is the eldest child of Desmond FitzGerald, the 29th Knight of Glin, who died in 2011 with no son to inherit his title.
Her father entertained the likes of Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and poet Seamus Heaney there, and today Catherine and her husband sometimes let out the 15-bedroom castle and 15 acres of grounds. Pop star Taylor Swift is among those who have reportedly paid €9,000 a night for the pleasure.
Catherine, 50, is also a neighbour of Charles, living with West about 22km from his Highgrove country pile.
It was outside that Wiltshire home where she and West staged an awkward kiss for the paparazzi last year, after The Wire actor was seen canoodling with his The Pursuit Of Love co-star Lily James, 32, during a trip to Rome.
While cynics scoffed at their handwritten statement saying ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much together’, it is a sentiment that has endured.
Last month, Catherine spoke lovingly of her husband, saying: ‘We are totally devoted to each other.’
West, 51, has said of his wife’s love of Glin Castle: ‘She has devoted 20 years to the garden. It’s at the core of her being.’