Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville splits from wife Lulu after 25 years of marriage

Hugh Bonneville and wife Lulu Williams attend the Downton Abbey World Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on September 9, 2019 in London. Photo / Getty Images

Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville and his wife Lulu Williams have split after 25 years of marriage.

The 59-year-old actor tied the knot with Lulu in 1998 and has 22-year-old son Felix with her but the pair have decided to now call it quits, a spokesperson for the couple has confirmed.

A source told The Sun on Sunday: “It’s a shame as locally they were known to be a very sociable couple. Hugh has been away from home filming a lot this year. He has lost a bit of weight this summer, he was looking trim, tanned and relaxed.”

The couple share a family home in West Sussex but one insider has now alleged that Williams now feels as if the many years that they have spent together mean “nothing” at all.

The source said: “It is clear that Lulu feels as if 20-odd years of marriage counts for nothing!”

The former couple first sparked seperation rumours after Bonneville attended his co-star Michelle Dockery’s wedding last week without his wife - and more noticeably, without his wedding ring.

Hugh Bonneville in a scene from the Downton Abbey film. Photo / Universal Pictures.

They had last been publicly photographed in April while attending a gala at the Old Vic Theatre in London.

It comes after the Notting Hill star and his wife renewed their vows in Las Vegas’ Graceland Chapel in 2018 and Hugh previously reflected that he always thought he would be single for a long time as he recalled that Lulu had been running a business at the time they met and it was his mother who put them back in touch.

He said: “I thought I would be a bachelor for years. I’ve often been the guy who doesn’t get the girl. Lulu was running a marquee company . . . my mother rang her to hire some chairs or something and said, ‘Do you remember Hugh?’ and that was how we reconnected. It did infuriate me that I had to give full credit to my mum for reintroducing us.”

Williams previously insisted that she and her husband - who is also known for his role in Downton Abbey - were not fazed by his celebrity status because they had known each other for so long.

She said: “I don’t take any notice. I don’t notice women fawning over him — although I know everybody talks about it. Don’t forget, we met as teenagers and have a lot of history. We’re not fazed by the glitz of the showbusiness world. We are just home-loving people and don’t make a habit of hanging out at celebrity parties.”