Dominic West praised his wife’s ancestor who was dubbed ‘Knight of the Women’ for keeping mistresses in outhouses in a clip that’s resurfaced following his passionate embrace with Lily James.
The Affair star, 50, was pictured cuddling the young actress sans wedding ring, during a romantic break in Rome, before putting on a united front with his wife today, who told reporters: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’.
But as the drama unfolded, Twitter users were keen to point out the moment the couple, who were married in 2010 and have four children together, spoke about one of Catherine’s ancestor’s penchant for mistresses in a 2018 Architectural Digest clip.
Dominic and his Irish landscape designer and aristocrat wife invited cameras into her ancestral home Glin Castle in Limerick, and pointed out the racy life of one of her ancestors, John Fraunceis.
He was nicknamed the Knight of the Women after adding several outbuildings for liaisons with his mistresses, and Dominic labelled him ‘one of my favourite characters’ in the footage.
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Dominic West and his wife Catherine Fitzgerald (pictured this morning) have been captured discussing her family’s history with mistresses when showing off their Irish castle in a resurfaced clip following his passionate embrace with Lily James
The Affair star, 50, was pictured cuddling the young actress (pictured) sans wedding ring, during a romantic break in Rome, before putting on a united front with his wife today, who told reporters: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’
‘If you have never seen Dominic West and his wife’s Architectural Digest video, please do so now,’ one Twitter user wrote, when sharing the clip. ‘There’s a very [eye-raising] bit about mistresses at 3.08.’
Pointing to a portrait of John Fraunceis, found in the castle’s dining room, Dominic says: ‘So over here is one of my favourite characters.’
Catherine explains: ‘He was the 25th Knight of Glin and he was known locally – they all had nicknames – and he was called the Knight of the Woman,’ before her husband asks: ‘He liked the ladies did he?’
‘He did,’ she replies. ‘He had many mistresses which he kept, so they say, in these Gothicised lodges.’
‘And everyone was happy about that?,’ Dominic questions, while his wife says: ‘No, not the parish priest. [He] was not happy. [John] was denounced from the pulpit.’
But as the drama unfolded, Twitter users were keen to point out the moment the couple, who were married in 2010 and have four children together, spoke about Catherine’s family’s history with lovers in a 2018 Architectural Digest clip, based at Glin Castle (pictured)
Happy anniversary: In July, Glin Castle in Ireland shared a throwback picture of Dominic’s wedding on their Instagram account, ten years on
‘But he didn’t care about that,’ the actor, who is best known for playing Noah Solloway in Showtime drama, The Affair, jokes before raising his eyebrows at the person behind the camera.
Glin Castle has been in the same family for 700 years and played host to Sir Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Talitha Getty.
The resurfaced clip comes after Dominic and actress Lily James were pictured passionately embracing while dining al fresco during a romantic break in Rome on Sunday.
The actor and the Mamma Mia! star, 31, didn’t seem to mind who saw them as they cuddled up to one another and shared a ride on an electric scooter while taking in the sights, tenderly touching throughout the day.
Meanwhile, hours after Dominic’s wife Catherine, 49, told friends she was ‘heartbroken’ over the viral images, she agreed to take part in a bizarre show of unity with the actor, telling reporters: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’.
Dominic and his landscape designer and aristocrat wife (pictured together) invited cameras into her ancestral home Glin Castle in Limerick, for a 2018 clip
The shell-shocked mother-of-four clutched a tissue in her hand as she gingerly stepped out of the marital home in Chippenham, Wiltshire, at 10:30am with her husband by her side, hiding her ring finger in her jeans pocket.
His wedding ring remained off and planting fixed smiles on their faces, they passionately kissed one another for the cameras.
They then handed photographers a piece of paper, which repeated the words in his handwriting: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’, with their signatures placed underneath.
Dominic first returned home from his romantic break on Monday night for a showdown with his wife, who told a friend she believed their marriage was strong and had been blindsided by the pictures.
This morning, the actor refused to answer any questions about what occurred in Italy. Moments later, the couple left their home, driving off together to an unknown destination.
Working together: Lily and Dominic are set to star in Emily Mortimer’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s celebrated novel The Pursuit Of Love for the BBC featuring Emily Beecham & Andrew Scott – filming began in July
Stage pals: The pair go way back and starred in Othello together at Sheffield’s Crucible back in 2011 (pictured)
As yet, there has been no sighting of Lily and she is yet to issue any sort of statement on the matter. She and Dominic share the same manager, who was also with them on the trip.
The pair are set to star in Emily Mortimer’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s celebrated novel The Pursuit Of Love for the BBC featuring Emily Beecham & Andrew Scott and filming began in July.
The three part romantic comedy-drama about love and friendship is filming on location in the Bristol and Bath area and at The Bottle Yard Studios.
Set in Europe between the two World Wars, the story follows the adventures and misadventures of the charismatic and fearless Linda Radlett, played by Lily and her best friend and cousin Fanny Logan, played by Beecham.
But the pair go way back and starred in Othello together at Sheffield’s Crucible back in 2011. Lily played Desdemona when she was aged 22 and Dominic played Iago aged 41.
Last week, it was announced that Lily had split from Matt Smith, 37, for good after a failed attempt to rekindle their relationship in lockdown following an on-off five year romance.
And in July, Lily was pictured enjoying a night out and a cosy park date in London with hunky Captain America star Chris Evans, 39.