People tend to forget this, but in 2016-2017, there were some rumors about Cate Blanchett’s marriage to Andrew Upton. The tabloids got photos of Upton looking very cozy with a 27-year-old, and there were some quieter rumors that Cate and Andrew’s marriage was on the rocks, or that they lived separate lives. Cate never addressed the rumors directly and she and Andrew were seen together in the years since then, but people have just realized that it’s been a while since anyone heard about their marriage or saw them together.
Cate Blanchett has left fans puzzled after stepping out at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards without her wedding ring on Sunday night. The Australian actress, 54, who has been married to playwright Andrew Upton, 58, since 1997, stunned at the British film industry event in a maroon Louis Vuitton gown and striking body chain combo. However, rather than wearing her white gold and diamond wedding sparkler, the Blue Jasmine star sported a large emerald cocktail ring. Her husband didn’t attend the event.
Curiously, Cate was also spotted ring-free earlier this month, when she attended an event in New York at the Museum of Modern Art on February 6th. Joined by Sophie’s Choice co-star Ethan Hawke, Cate oozed sophistication in a gradient-print grey pantsuit and lariat necklace. Cate made no attempt at hiding her bare wedding finger as she smiled for photos outside the exclusive event. In October 2023, Cate was once again seen without her wedding ring as she sat front row at the Stella McCartney runway show during Paris Fashion Week. Instead the thespian wore a set of elegant gold bands on her wedding finger.
Speaking to Woman’s Day magazine on Monday, a source close to the couple said Cate’s missing ring has sent off alarm bells about the status of her marriage.
‘Seeing Cate without her ring has sent shockwaves through their friends. For the first time they’re wondering if things aren’t so rosy,’ the insider claimed. A question mark has been hanging over Cate and Andrew’s marriage for some time now. The couple also haven’t been seen out on a date since August, when they were photographed enjoying a sun-drenched holiday in Ibiza.
They also raised eyebrows earlier this month after putting their sprawling mansion in Prahran, Melbourne, on the market. The three-bedroom family home, which the couple purchased in 2006, is set to be sold at auction with a price guide of $2.25million – $2.45million. Cate and Andrew have been living in the UK since 2015 and still own several other properties together. Their portfolio includes a glorious Victorian mansion in East Sussex, England, which they bought for £4.9 million (AU$9.4million) in 2015. The couple also own an investment property in Sydney’s CBD.
Cate and Andrew share three sons, Dashiell, 22, Roman, 19, and Ignatius, 16, and a daughter named Edith, eight.
Every interview I’ve read with Cate in recent years – especially when she was promoting Tar – it sounded like she and Andrew had been Britain-based for a while. I guess that’s the “Victorian mansion in East Sussex,” where they have some kind of larger estate and Cate is always tooling around in the garden. Given her increasingly cozy relationship with the Windsors – sitting with Prince William at the BAFTAs and being a celeb ambassador for Earthshot – I would assume that she’s committed to spending more time in England in the future. I always assumed Andrew was okay with that, especially after they spent so much time in Oz, nurturing the Australian theater community. I don’t know. They’ve been together for 26 years, and I kind of hate Ring Watch. Who even knows.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.