‘Queen’s Gambit’ Star Shockingly Reveals April Fools’ 2022 Wedding to Malcolm McRae
In an announcement that came out of left field and rocked her legions of fans, Anya Taylor-Joy has divulged that the chess prodigy queen was actually a married woman this whole time – for two whole years, in fact. Yes, you read that correctly. The 26-year-old actress extraordinaire, who set the world ablaze with her captivating and nuanced performance as Beth Harmon in Netflix’s wildly popular 2020 series The Queen’s Gambit, dropped a bombshell update on Tuesday about her deeply private personal life.
Taking to Instagram, the Golden Globe winner unleashed a whirlwind of shocking details, revealing that on the fairly unlikely date of April 1st, 2022 (better known as April Fools’ Day), she secretly tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend, musician Malcolm McRae. Alongside moody, atmospheric photos giving an intimate look at the gothic-inspired nuptials in New Orleans, Taylor-Joy wrote:
“Two years ago, on April Fools, I secretly married my best friend in New Orleans. The magic of that day is ingrained in every cell of my being, forever. Happy second (first) anniversary my love…you’re the coolest.”
Excuse me, what? The usually intensely private Taylor-Joy just casually admitted to having been a married woman for the last 730-ish days without anyone being the wiser? The sheer level of intrigue here is staggering – this is the kind of shocking, out-of-nowhere revelation that sends fans into a frenzy of dissecting every potential clue and coded message.
From the dimly lit chapel setting to the “anatomically correct heart cakes” (yes, you read that right too), the photos provide tantalizing glimpses into what was clearly an unconventional, almost haunting yet deeply romantic affair befitting Taylor-Joy’s distinctive flair. One snap even shows the newlyweds playfully hiding underneath the train of Taylor-Joy’s exquisite Dior gown alongside a surprised-looking Cara Delevingne, who was among the handful of attendees.
This Instagram admission from Taylor-Joy finally sheds light on reports last year of the couple having a courthouse wedding in 2022 before holding a more elaborate ceremony that October at the breathtaking Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice, Italy. Delevingne was also present for that second celebratory event marking Taylor-Joy and McRae’s union.
The very fact that Taylor-Joy opted to share these intimate personal moments at all is highly perplexing and bursting with unanswered questions. The level of privacy she had maintained around her relationship with the 28-year-old McRae up until this point was striking – they were first romantically linked after meeting in 2021 at the Queen’s Gambit premiere, but largely avoided discussing their coupling in interviews over the following two years.
However, in one 2022 interview with British Vogue, Taylor-Joy did offer the smallest glimpse into their intimate dynamic, describing “I said to my partner the other day that he was my hobby. He loved it because he’s the same. I’ve finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading. We’re basically 80 years old and seven at the same time.”
And McRae appeared to reference Taylor-Joy as well, releasing a track in 2022 that he said was inspired by meeting the actress.
While details remain scarce for now, the Instagram revelation has sparked an eruption of joy and well-wishes from Taylor-Joy’s celebrity friends and fans alike. Actresses Bella Thorne and Rachel Zegler, plus socialite Paris Hilton, were among those flooding the comments celebrating the shocking anniversary news.
For the typically intensely guarded Taylor-Joy, choosing to bare all (well, at least some details) about this deeply meaningful personal aspect of her life signifies just how profound and inextricably intertwined her bond is with her new husband McRae. The effusive way she described the “magic” of their intimate New Orleans wedding being “ingrained in every cell” speaks volumes about the depth of her feelings.
With major future roles surely on the horizon for one of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed young talents, Taylor-Joy has been notoriously selective about what she chooses to share publicly. This surprising marriage admission shows she has no intention of leaving her new husband out of the narrative – faces successfully buried in sand, secret lives successfully exposed.
