Rose Leslie And Kit Harington: What You Don't Know About Their Relationship

Rose Leslie and Kit Harington have a love story for the ages — and it all started on HBO's Game of Thrones, where the two played the feisty Ygritte and Jon Snow, respectively. Their onscreen romance would have a tragic ending, however, but luckily, their real-life relationship would flourish — albeit privately at first.  

The celebrity couple tried desperately to keep their love for one another a secret from their co-stars and the public, with Harington even going so far as to flat-out lie to the press about the nature of his relationship with Leslie. In the end though, rumors that things were really serious between them were confirmed when Harington announced they had moved in together. After a muffed wedding proposal, they were married at Rayne Church in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

So, how did this couple go from being colleagues to becoming husband and wife? Here's what you don't know about Rose Leslie and Kit Harington's relationship.

Harington's GoT character, Jon Snow, took a vow of celibacy as a brother of the Night's Watch. But Snow's attraction to Leslie's character, Ygritte, was too much for him to handle. Viewers were able to see it all go down when he finally succumbed to temptation in a red-hot scene that was filmed in Belfast, Ireland in 2012, according to Esquire. 

Harington later told Vulture he and Leslie were actually looking forward to filming the tender, intimate moment because of how "beautifully written" it was. Harington told the publication, "I enjoyed it a lot, and it wasn't too awkward. I think Jon's the only one on the show who hasn't had sex yet, it seems to be, so that was nice."

When asked how he prepared to shoot the scene beforehand, he revealed it was his very first time getting frisky in the buff on camera. "So we obviously rehearsed it a few times — fully clothed, mind you!" he said.

Come to find out, it was Leslie's first sex scene, too! She told People magazine that her first foray into on-camera action was "weird," but she knew it had to be done because it was an integral part of their characters' storyline. 

Rose Leslie and Kit Harington's characters had many magical moments together before Ygritte met her bloody fate in the TV show's fourth season. Looking back on their time as co-workers and on-screen lovers, Harington's favorite memory of working alongside Leslie was when the GoT cast headed off to Iceland in the second season for a three-week shoot. 

Explaining why he enjoyed the trip, he told Vogue in May 2016 that he loved filming in the "beautiful" country, calling the Northern Lights "magical." He also added, "And because it was there that I fell in love," obviously referring to his then-girlfriend, Leslie. Aww!

He continued, "If you're already attracted to someone, and then they play your love interest in the show, it's becomes very easy to fall in love."

Little did we know, it wouldn't be long after that interview that Harington would ask for Leslie's hand in marriage.

Five years after they became co-stars on GoT, Harington knew it was time to put a ring on the fiery Free Folk woman who had stolen his heart. He talked about all of the details surrounding the proposal on The Jonathan Ross Show. "I did have some plans to do it, I was going to string up some lights in some trees and do all the romantic stuff," he said.

But the day prior to his planned proposal, he decided to spring into action. "We were in the country and we were under this beautiful night sky and had a log fire burning and red wine, and I blew my load early," he said. Umm ... that's an interesting way to describe it, but we catch his drift.

Though they kept the majority of their relationship a secret, they couldn't wait to share their news with the world by printing an adorable, old-school engagement ad in The Times of London.

After her character met her demise in Game of Thrones' fourth season, Leslie continued on with her off-screen relationship with Harington. She went on to focus on other film projects, while Harington went back to work on the fantasy series.

During an interview with Late Night with Seth Meyers, Leslie confirmed she wasn't just a GoT alum, she was an "avid fan" of the program. As you can imagine, because Harington had insider's knowledge of what would happen on upcoming episodes of the hit HBO series, his work caused a bit of friction when he would come home from a day on set. 

"Obviously the new episodes for the final season were coming through onto [Harington's] iPad," she said. "I can read his facial expressions. I don't want to know anything that's going on within his eyes or anything like that so I sent him packing. I kind of boot him out so that he can go to the coffee shop." She added, "I'll be able to gauge. If he stiffens then I know that, 'Ooh, someone's dead.'"

So, if you ever catch Harington at Starbucks, reading a script off of his tablet, you'll know why! 

Perhaps they initially had plans on keeping their relationship strictly professional at first, but the couple reportedly took a liking to each other as soon as Leslie was cast in the HBO show's second season. However, by August 2012, TMZ had acquired pictures of the couple holding hands and looking mighty cozy inside a restaurant in London.

While rumors of a fling were beginning to spread, Leslie told People magazine in June 2014, "Kit is a lovely and funny man, and a dear friend. We had known each other before we started working together on Game of Thrones. It was always such a privilege to be working opposite him and such a blessing that we get on in real life because it made our characters more believable."

It wouldn't be until almost two years later when they would finally make their red carpet debut as a couple when they attended London's Olivier Awards. After the cat was out of the bag, Leslie told The Telegraph how difficult it was to keep their love under wraps, especially as it pertained to their GoT co-stars. "We wouldn't flirt in front of other people [and] we thought that nobody knew, but they did," she said.

Leslie wasn't the only one fibbing about their relationship. Harington also stretched the truth more than a few times in an attempt to keep things hush-hush. When asked about rumors of an off-camera romance, Harington told The Standard in May 2014, "All rumor and myth. Me and Rose [Leslie] are very, very close and very good friends. And continue to be, actually. She's wonderful. But no, no love affair." Liar, liar, pants on fire!

But we have to cut him some slack, especially since he explained why he was adamant about keeping his private life under lock and key. "On a serious level, I wouldn't tell the press if I was in a relationship or not," he said. "I wouldn't ever reveal that, because it takes you down a certain road ... I have no desire to be courting the press with my love life. It's not my job, it's not who I am — and I actually think it's more fun for everyone to speculate." 

Following news of Rose Leslie and Kit Harington's September 2017 engagement, internet sleuths did some digging, and one online user tweeted, "I feel duty bound to reveal that Kit Harington and Rose Leslie are distant cousins. They're both descendants of Charles II." Say what?!

This may sound like an online urban legend that's nothing but hogwash, but there may be some truth behind it. According to Rolling Stone, Harington's family is rumored to be direct descendants of King Charles II. So how does this tie into his relation to Leslie? Well, The Sun cited Leslie's Wikipedia page, which reads, in part, "Her mother is Candida Mary Sibyl 'Candy' Leslie (nee Weld) of Clan Fraser, maternal great-granddaughter of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and descendant of Charles II of England."

So, there you have it. As creepy as it sounds, they may actually have a mutual royal lineage through their relation to King Charles II, if you believe these sources. 

Leslie's most notable pre-GoT role was as the character Gwen Dawson on the British historical drama Downton Abbey. And, despite the program being celebrated and managing to snag numerous awards, Harington wasn't a fan of the series!

During a May 2014 interview with Rolling Stone — reportedly two years into Leslie and Harington's covert romance — Harington told the publication, "There's an unhealthy obsession in America with royalty and the class system." He continued, "'Oh, my God, you're the son of a duke!' I'm not an anti-royalist, but who gives a s**t?"

He went on to add, "I really disagree with Downton Abbey on lots of f***ing levels [...] It celebrates the class system, and its kind of overall message seems to be, 'Wasn't it good when everybody knew their place within society?' Why should we hark back to those times? It was bulls**t. We got out of that, and thank the f**k we did." Ouch.

How's that for being a supportive partner?

Their onscreen chemistry was electrifying as Jon Snow and Ygritte. But — sorry, fans — their roles on GoT just might be the last time we see this duo work together on set. "I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. Honestly, I was watching Sliding Doors with her the other day, and there's a bit at the end where John Hannah is pouring his heart out to Gwyneth Paltrow and she's lying dead. I turned to Rose and I said, 'I wouldn't be able to do that with you, because you would piss yourself,'" he told The Times.

All jokes aside, the real reason he doesn't want to to take their romance back to the big or small screen has a lot to do with Leslie's acting prowess. "She's a brilliant actor," he said. "Actually I don't want to work with her because she would just show me up again. That's why."

Hey, we don't blame him.

Harington spent many years sharing a flat in London with his college friend and writing pal, Dan West. After years of being roomies, they decided it was time to go their separate ways in 2017. "He's going off with his girlfriend and I'm living with my girlfriend," Harington told Esquire.

While speaking with The Times a little over five years after he and Leslie first began filming GoT together — and after all of the packing and moving was finished — Harington made a surprising admission. "I've never lived with a partner before. It's amazing," he said.

That same year, he appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden and talked about just how wonderful co-habitating with Leslie really was. He revealed that she had moved into his spot, and he had given her full reign to spruce the place up to her liking. 

Now that's love! 

Considering how Rose Leslie and Kit Harington value their privacy and prefer to remain rather secretive about their relationship, could anyone really be surprised that they have some wacky rules to live by? 

Harington told The Times that, while vacationing, they refuse to take photos together with their fans. "We don't do that, because there is a line where you go, 'Our relationship is not one of two puppets who are like walking advertisements.' So one of us will have a photo taken and the other will say no," he said.

He went on to add, "That's important — that your relationship isn't defined by what you were as two characters in the past."

We understand where he's coming from — we really do. But is he really shocked that people are chomping at the bit to get a picture with Ygritte and Jon Snow in the flesh?! Come on, Kit. Take one for the team!