Dame Maggie Smith has confessed she is lonely after losing the love of her life, playwright Beverley Cross, 15 years ago.
Maggie, 78, admitted she was struggling to live without Beverley — who was her third husband — in a rare television interview with US 60 Minutes.
When asked if she was lonely, Maggie said: “I don’t know. It seems a bit pointless. Going on one’s own and not having someone to share it with.
“Jane Birkin’s mother Judy Campbell once said an extraordinary thing to me when her husband died; that it was a strange feeling you were not number one with anybody.”
Maggie said she was finding solace in her work and trying to stay busy.
It’s the first time she has spoken about Beverley’s death in several years. The last time she mentioned it she was similarly gloomy about it.
“Everybody says it gets better, but I don’t think it does. It gets different,” she said.
Maggie met Beverley when she just 18. It was love at first sight and Beverley proposed quickly, which proved more than slightly controversial as he was still married at the time.
Beverley begged Maggie to wait out the lengthy process of the divorce but in the meantime, she met fellow actor Robert Stephens.
Robert and Maggie were married in 1967 and had two sons together. They divorced in 1975 and Beverley and Maggie were finally married the following year.
At the time of his death, Maggie was appearing in A Delicate Balance at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Showing amazing strength and perseverance she continued in the role until the end of its run.
When asked by 60 Minutes if she had hopes of falling in love again, she was very clear.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “No way.”
