Wolf Hall star Pryce secretly weds his lover after 43 years
As Cardinal Wolsey in t he acclaimed historical drama Wolf Hall, Jonathan Pryce failed to help Henry Viii annul his marriage to Catherine of aragon.
in real life, it has taken the celebrated actor almost half a century to realise the value of wedded bliss.
i hear that Pryce has secretly married the actress Kate Fahy, after keeping her waiting 43 years for a wedding ring. He had previously declared that marriage was not ‘necessary’ for the couple.
‘They tied the knot recently, without any fuss,’ claims a friend. ‘Only close family members and friends know about it.’
The 67- year- old Welshman, who appears in ‘sex and dragons’ TV drama Game Of Thrones, walked out on his first wife, a teacher, just days after meeting Fahy when they were cast opposite each other in a production at liverpool’s Everyman Theatre in 1972. she, too, was wed to someone else at the time.
‘i’d been married for nearly three years and was very happy,’ explained Pryce, who played the father of Keira Knightley’s character in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films. ‘But two weeks after i met Kate i left my wife and she left her husband. it really was just this extraordinary meeting — a real coup de foudre.’
The couple have three children and Pryce is currently appearing on stage with his 25-year-old daughter, Phoebe, for the first time, in The Merchant Of Venice at shakespeare’s Globe.
Grocer’s son Pryce explained in 2010 why he’d not married Fahy. ‘it wasn’t necessary,’ he insisted. ‘i can’t imagine what life would be if i hadn’t met Kate at that time. We’re both actors and often that mitigates against a good relationship, but we have a great understanding of each other’s needs.’
He admitted, however, that financial considerations might change his mind. ‘The only reason to get married now is inheritance tax.’
Pryce could not be reached for comment yesterday, but one man who definitely will not have attended the wedding is playwright sir Tom stoppard. Pryce accused him last week of being a ‘snob’ after the Oscar winner claimed theatre audiences were less intelligent than they used to be.
‘i thought it was an extraordinary thing to say,’ Pryce remarked. ‘Just because people didn’t get his esoteric piece of writing at the national Theatre. Write something more comprehensible.’