Jude Law and Phillipa Coan: How They Met, Their Secret Wedding, and Life Together
Jude Law married behavioural psychologist Dr Phillipa Coan on 30 April 2019 in a quiet, low-key civil ceremony that caught fans entirely by surprise when the news broke days later. The couple had dated since 2015 after being introduced through mutual friends and have since had two children together.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Jude Law and Phillipa Coan met in 2015 through mutual friends and were first spotted publicly at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts.
- They married in April 2019 at the Old Marylebone Town Hall, London, with only close family present.
- Phillipa was born in February 1985, making the age gap between her and Law approximately 12 years.
- The couple have two children together, whose names they have not disclosed publicly.
- Phillipa holds a PhD in Organisational Psychology and Behaviour Change and founded her own consultancy, STRIDE.
Profile summary
Full name | Dr. Phillipa Coan |
Year of birth | February 1985 |
Age (as of 2026) | 41 |
Place of birth | London, England |
Nationality | British |
Profession | Behavioural psychologist, business coach, sustainability consultant |
Education | BSc, University of Birmingham; MSc, University of London; PhD, University of Leeds |
Spouse | Jude Law (married April 2019) |
X (Twitter) |
Who is Phillipa Coan?
Jude Law's wife, Dr Phillipa Coan, is a London-based behavioural and business psychologist. She is far from a typical celebrity spouse. She founded her own company, Stride, which she describes as a company dedicated to putting people at the heart of an organisation's environment.
She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2007 with a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's degree from the University of London in 2008, before receiving her PhD in Organisational Psychology and Behaviour Change from the University of Leeds in 2014.
In 2015, she won the Outstanding Academic Performance Prize and was featured on the Roll of Honour List for Women of Achievement from Leeds. She also won the Student Prize for Excellence from the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology in November 2014 and was named Postgraduate Researcher of the Year at Leeds University Business School in December 2014.
In 2018, she obtained a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching and Certification in Systemic Team Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching.
STRIDE — her consultancy
STRIDE is a consultancy firm founded by Phillipa Coan that specialises in behaviour change strategies, particularly focused on environmental sustainability and organisational development. The company works with businesses and organisations to implement sustainable practices through psychological insights and evidence-based interventions.
On her professional X (Twitter) profile, she describes herself as a "Psychologist, Coach & Behaviour Change Specialist" and founder of STRIDE, applying psychology to tackle climate change.
How did Jude Law meet Phillipa Coan?
Source: Getty Images
According to the Daily Mail, mutual friends introduced the couple to each other, and they began dating sometime in early 2015. They were first spotted together after Jude Law was reportedly accompanied by Phillipa to the Hay Festival that year.
A source told the Daily Mail at the time:
He's serious about her. He loves how intelligent Pippa is and finds it refreshing to date a girl who is not from his showbiz world.
According to Law's 2024 GQ profile, he met Phillipa not long before filming The Young Pope, and between shoots the couple were exploring Italy together.
In a 2017 Modern Luxury cover story, Law made clear just how serious things had become. He declared,
"She's mine and no-one else's. I'm very, very happy," and added that "a large part of that is the fact that she's a very private person… our relationship is a very private thing, and I think part of the fact it works so well is exactly because of that.
The secret wedding
Coan and Law held a surprise wedding on 30 April 2019 at the Old Marylebone Town Hall in London, with Coan wearing a short off-white ruffled dress and Law in a navy corduroy suit and jacket.
Jude and Phillipa shunned showbiz pals and invited only close family to the low-key ceremony. They emerged about an hour later with their wedding bands proudly on display, then got back into their waiting vehicle without posing for any pictures.
The ceremony initially went unnoticed by the public, but photos of the newlyweds leaving the registry office surfaced in the press just a day later. Law's eldest son, Rafferty Law, served as best man at his father's second marriage, which caught fans entirely by surprise as little was known about their engagement.
How old is Phillipa Coan? The age gap explained
Phillipa Coan is a behavioural psychologist and business coach who founded a company called STRIDE. There is a roughly 12-year age gap between her and Law, who was born in 1972.
David Jude Heyworth Law was born on 29 December 1972, making him 53 as of late 2026. According to official UK company records for her business, STRIDE, Phillipa was born in February 1985, making her 41 in 2026.
David Jude Heyworth Law was born on 29 December 1972, making him 53 as of late 2026. Phillipa, born in 1987, is approximately 38 or 39. Her exact birth date has never been made public.
The gap has never appeared to be a point of tension. Law has been consistently open about how transformative the relationship has been for him at this stage of his life.
Phillipa Coan and Jude Law's children
Source: Getty Images
The couple have two children together whose names they haven't shared publicly. Jude Law confirmed the birth of their first child on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon during the lockdown in 2020.
The actor explained that the pandemic restrictions had made their first child's birth "unusual" but then noted, "We feel pretty blessed that we were in a time that… we could just nest and enjoy each other's company."
The couple did not announce their second child's birth but were first spotted with the newborn in early 2023 at Heathrow Airport.
Law has five children from previous relationships, making him the father of seven in total. He has three children, Rafferty, Iris, and Rudy, with his first wife, Sadie Frost, and shares his daughter, Sophia, with ex-girlfriend Samantha Burke. He and ex-girlfriend Catherine Harding also have a daughter named Ada.
What Jude Law says about his marriage
In a November 2024 GQ profile, Law gave his most candid account yet of how Phillipa had changed his life:
Meeting Phil and falling in love with her and the relationship we've been in has been a huge influence on my life. I've never felt happier. I've never felt more supported. And my home has felt incredibly safe and secure.
In the same profile, Law shared how his wife's vocation had shaped their relationship, telling the outlet:
Phil's a psychologist. So we enjoy a very healthy relationship where we talk a lot about how we feel, our relationships with friends, and relationships with our families, and she has a wonderful perspective on all of that.
Their public appearances
Despite their privacy preference, the couple have made occasional public appearances. Phillipa joined Jude's children Raff and Iris Law at the actor's Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in December 2024, and the couple posed for family photos with Iris, now 25, and Raff Law, 29.
Most recently, Jude Law shared a sweet public moment with his rarely-seen wife during a surprise Venice Film Festival appearance in August 2025, where the private couple was seen at the amfAR benefit gala.
FAQs
- How did Jude Law meet Phillipa Coan? According to the Daily Mail, the pair were introduced by friends in 2015, around the time she completed her PhD, and shortly before he started pre-production on HBO's The Young Pope. They were first seen together publicly at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts.
- How old is Phillipa Coan? According to official UK company filings for her business, Phillipa Coan was born in February 1985, making her 41 years old as of 2026.
- What is the age difference between Jude Law and Phillipa Coan? There is a roughly 12-year age gap between Phillipa Coan, born in February 1985, and Jude Law, born in December 1972.
- How many children do Jude Law and Phillipa Coan have together? Jude Law and Phillipa Coan have two children together, whose names they haven't shared publicly.
- What does Phillipa Coan do for a living? Phillipa Coan is a British psychologist and sustainability consultant with expertise in environmental behaviour change. She is widely respected for her academic research and real-world application of psychology to encourage eco-friendly practices in businesses and organisations.
Jude Law and Phillipa Coan remain one of the most private high-profile couples in British public life. Their story, from a mutual-friend introduction in 2015 to a secret April 2019 wedding that fans missed entirely, is a testament to how deliberately they have guarded their relationship. With two young children and a growing body of work between them, the couple appear, by every account, to be genuinely content.
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Source: Legit.ng
