Eschewing months of media speculation and paparazzi hounding, the Sherlock Holmes actor opted for a quieter, traditional route.
He will marry British director and actress Sophie Hunter.
“It’s what I would have done if I wasn’t famous,” he told USA Today.
“It’s a normal thing to do in my country. It was a way of telling our friends who we hadn’t been able to tell before (they saw) some grainy shot of a ring on her finger.”
The announcement read:
The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch
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Hunter and Cumberbatch acted alongside each other in 2009 film Burlesque Fairytales, set in a Thirties London theatre.
His friend Matthew Goode agreed that it was “old school”, adding, “I like that.”
Talking at a Chanel-hosted screening of Cumberbatch’s new film, The Imitation Game, in Los Angeles Goode said that plans for a stag do were in the pipeline.
“He’s getting on a plane so we won’t have much time,” said Goode. “We’ll do it in New York maybe, at my place.”
In addition to being an award-winning director, Hunter is also bilingual (she studied at Oxford), a highly skilled equestrian, pianist and athlete. She’s also recorded an album with Guy Chambers, in which she sang in French and she breezily runs four theatre companies.
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