Latest news with #CeliaImrie
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
The Sleep Room by Jon Stock review – the psychiatrist who abused female patients
In a hospital in Waterloo, London, in the mid-1960s was a psychiatric ward full of sleeping women. Suffering from disorders ranging from post-partum depression to chronic anxiety to anorexia, the residents of the 'sleep room' were sedated and woken only to be washed, fed or subjected to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). All were under the supervision of psychiatrist William Sargant, who at the time was hailed as a pioneer. Sargant claimed that a combination of enforced narcosis and ECT could fix disturbed minds. Failing that, the treatment would be surgical lobotomy. The Sleep Room is author Jon Stock's gripping account of a scandal in which female patients were denied dignity and agency by a man who wielded absolute power over their bodies. The book is ably narrated by actors Richard Armitage, Antonia Beamish and Celia Imrie. The latter's contributions are unusually personal since, at 14, Imrie had been hospitalised with anorexia and was put under Sargant's care. In her remarkable and haunting testimony, Imrie remembers Sargant as 'tall with an evil presence'. Though she doesn't believe she had electro-shock treatment, she witnessed a woman in a neighbouring bed going through it, recalling a 'huge rubber plug jammed between her teeth; the strange, almost silent cry, like a sigh of pain, she made as her tormented body shuddered and jerked; the scent of burning hair and flesh'. Stock's book paints a grim picture of the medical establishment's attitude to mental illness. Sargant's ward was finally closed in 1973. In the weeks before that happened, he destroyed most of the case records. He was never investigated and died in 1988 with his reputation intact. Available via Little, Brown, 11hr 48min BookishLucy Mangan,Penguin Audio, 6hr 59min The Guardian's TV critic reads her memoir in which she looks back at a life shaped by literature. My Next BreathJeremy Renner, Simon & Schuster Audio, 6hr 35minThe American Hustle actor's memoir recalls his accident in 2023 when he was crushed by a snow plough, leading to surgery and months of rehabilitation.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
The Sleep Room by Jon Stock review – the psychiatrist who abused female patients
In a hospital in Waterloo, London, in the mid-1960s was a psychiatric ward full of sleeping women. Suffering from disorders ranging from post-partum depression to chronic anxiety to anorexia, the residents of the 'sleep room' were sedated and woken only to be washed, fed or subjected to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). All were under the supervision of psychiatrist William Sargant, who at the time was hailed as a pioneer. Sargant claimed that a combination of enforced narcosis and ECT could fix disturbed minds. Failing that, the treatment would be surgical lobotomy. The Sleep Room is author Jon Stock's gripping account of a scandal in which female patients were denied dignity and agency by a man who wielded absolute power over their bodies. The book is ably narrated by actors Richard Armitage, Antonia Beamish and Celia Imrie. The latter's contributions are unusually personal since, at 14, Imrie had been hospitalised with anorexia and was put under Sargant's care. In her remarkable and haunting testimony, Imrie remembers Sargant as 'tall with an evil presence'. Though she doesn't believe she had electro-shock treatment, she witnessed a woman in a neighbouring bed going through it, recalling a 'huge rubber plug jammed between her teeth; the strange, almost silent cry, like a sigh of pain, she made as her tormented body shuddered and jerked; the scent of burning hair and flesh'. Stock's book paints a grim picture of the medical establishment's attitude to mental illness. Sargant's ward was finally closed in 1973. In the weeks before that happened, he destroyed most of the case records. He was never investigated and died in 1988 with his reputation intact. Available via Little, Brown, 11hr 48min BookishLucy Mangan,Penguin Audio, 6hr 59min The Guardian's TV critic reads her memoir in which she looks back at a life shaped by literature. My Next BreathJeremy Renner, Simon & Schuster Audio, 6hr 35minThe American Hustle actor's memoir recalls his accident in 2023 when he was crushed by a snow plough, leading to surgery and months of rehabilitation.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Everybody's favourite manic pixie dream aunt: Celia Imrie's 20 best films – ranked!
Emma Thompson's Mary-Poppins-with-warts is a dog's dinner of a movie, but Celia Imrie amuses herself (and occasionally us) with a broader-than-usual turn as the widowed Mrs Quickly, who is pursuing a father of seven (Colin Firth) forced by his aunt to marry within 30 days or face penury. Imrie cites this as one of her favourite roles, despite having a live tarantula on her head in one scene and a wriggling worm in her mouth in another. Among Imrie's earliest credits was this exploitation horror about a secret, sadistic correctional institute for young women. Barely glimpsed amid the frenzy of whipping, she tries to alert the outside world by throwing a Bible from a window. 'Whenever I am in one of those awful out-of-the-frying-pan situations where you escape only to end up back where you started, I still use the phrase: 'How House of Whipcord!'' she recalled in her 2012 autobiography, The Happy Hoofer. A casting director spotted Imrie opposite Harold Pinter in his play The Hothouse and recommended her to George Lucas for the tiny role of the fighter pilot Bravo 5. She wore rust-coloured jodhpurs, but, on Lucas's orders and to her chagrin, no lipstick: 'I did my bit and fired my guns, but I haven't a notion what side I was on, who I was firing the guns at, who I was hitting and whether or not we won.' Nothing very much for Imrie to do as Una, the best chum of Bridget's mother, beyond presiding over the barbecue and offering to sieve the gravy, but she gets the occasional faux pas and adds generally to the impression of a high-calibre cast free of dead wood. She returned for extra helpings in the sequels. Feeling more like a victory lap than a fully fledged movie, this allows Imrie to reprise her sitcom role as Claudia Bing, the PR rival to Jennifer Saunders' Edina Monsoon. It is Claudia who blows the whistle after Edina apparently kills Kate Moss by knocking her into the Thames, and Claudia who prevents Jon Hamm from rushing valiantly to the model's aid. Imrie was kitted out in 'full rustic wench costume' for this time-travelling folkloric fantasy, but Christopher Lambert was too weedy to lift her on to his horse for the intended goodbye kiss. Instead, she simply grabs his calf and jogs beside him 'while delivering the dialogue that I should have been doing as we galloped along together'. There was more drama for her off-screen than on: she was briefly snatched from her hotel by a man who declared himself intent on continuing the Pictish tradition of kidnapping women. This The-Omen-meets-The-Da-Vinci-Code potboiler stars James D'Arcy as the cryptographer uncovering a plot to revive the antichrist. Po-faced Terence Stamp and Udo Kier have considerably less fun than Derek Jacobi, seen fleetingly as a librarian who brandishes a pair of cotton gloves and promises to check Isaac Newton's papers 'for stains and so on'. Imrie is the hero's mother, burnt to a crisp in only her second scene and squeezing out her final words in a high-pitched squeak. Most of the razzle-dazzle in this part prequel, part sequel comes courtesy of Cher, who makes her entrance by helicopter. But Imrie lets her hair down as the vice-chancellor of Oxford university on graduation day. Once Lily James, as the young version of Meryl Streep's character, Donna, has warbled her share of When I Kissed the Teacher and zoomed off across the quad, Imrie leaps from the stage trailing a canary-yellow feather boa and trilling: 'What a mad day!' In this London-set lesbian romcom, the newlywed Piper Perabo leaves her husband for the florist (Lena Headey) who supplied their wedding bouquets. As the bride's mother, Imrie nails the character in her haughty opening lines: 'Darling, tell your father he can't wear that suit … I've seen better dressed crab.' But there are nuanced delights to come, including the thawing of relations between Imrie and her husband (Anthony Head) during the sort of last-minute race through traffic that was compulsory in Britcoms of the Richard Curtis era. If there were ever a movie star in dire need of a spell at a Swiss spa resort, it's the sickly looking Dane DeHaan. In this horror inspired by Magic Mountain and Shutter Island, he is the executive sent to retrieve a colleague, only to find madness and murder afoot. Imrie, first seen doing a crossword with her fellow bathrobed guests, dispenses gobbets of backstory about the institute's sinister origins. With prim lips and loaded stares, she delivers her portentous dialogue with aplomb. 'There is a terrible darkness here,' she warns DeHaan. Next stop: the morgue. Emerging from the Cape Cod fog like a mermaid, Imrie plays one of the wacky catalysts for a disillusioned writer's journey of self-discovery, offering a slogan for every occasion: 'Who wants the burden of control?' 'If we can't show our feelings, we might as well be men!' She has a fine rapport with the film's lead, Karen Allen (of Raiders of the Lost Ark), but her character is essentially a manic pixie dream aunt who twirls coloured scarves, whoops among the waves and impishly ignores the 'Do Not Enter' signs around the lighthouse. Imagine Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe , but served as a side, not a main. With Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, this Brits-in-India getaway is the Avengers Assemble of older British character actors. Imrie gets the slimmest pickings plot-wise, as the grandmother who opts for Jaipur rather than an eternity of babysitting. She packs her shrewd smirk and that reliable libido (on securing an airline upgrade: 'I had to flirt so hard with the travel agent it was practically phone sex') and gets several other choice lines, complaining about getting old ('I don't want to be the first person they let off the plane in a hostage crisis') and offering terse advice on how the unhappily married Nighy could celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary ('Perhaps a minute's silence?'). A 2015 sequel offered her character a glimmer of romance. Or Outnumbered: The Movie. The writer-directors Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin preserve the partly improvised nature of their kids-say-the-darnedest-things sitcom while replacing its stars, Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, with David Tennant and Rosamund Pike. The 'sit' in this 'com' is the birthday party of their dying grandpa (Billy Connolly). After he expires on the beach in the company of the children, Imrie is called in from the child welfare unit. Reacting with understated incredulity to the kids' tales of Viking funerals and the Norse god Odin, she rounds up their crayon drawings as evidence. Mary Norton's adventure novel about a tiny resourceful family who live in the skirting boards and hide from 'human beans' has been the source of numerous adaptations, including Studio Ghibli's Arrietty in 2010. This inventive British version, with Imrie and Jim Broadbent delightful as the parents and John Goodman in full panto mode as the hissable developer threatening their home, is a charmer. Gemma Jackson's production design is a special highlight. 'It was fabulous walking around the gigantic chair and table legs and sitting on huge cotton reels,' said Imrie. In a structurally daring biopic scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce and carved into two contrasting perspectives, Imrie plays the tenacious mother of the cellist Jacqueline du Pré (Emily Watson), encouraging competition with her sister Hilary (Rachel Griffiths). 'If you want to be together, you've got to be as good as each other,' she insists, establishing a pattern of rivalry that splashes over into their love lives. In her early scenes as the grieving mother Mimi, Imrie makes you realise that, with the help of some heavyweight roles, she could have approached the gravitas of her pal Glenda Jackson (she was Goneril to Jackson's Lear in 2016). Just look at her deep grooves of experience and regret, her instant access to purse-lipped froideur. That dissipates as Mimi helps to launch the west London patisserie her late daughter never got the chance to open and tensions vanish beneath a dusting of feelgood whimsy thicker than several inches of icing sugar. But Imrie is highly watchable in her flirtations with the neighbourhood inventor (Bill Paterson), whom she invites up for coffee. If it isn't decaf, he says, he'll be 'up all night'. Cue the naughty Imrie twinkle: 'Lucky me.' This haunted-house horror stars Florence Pugh and Ben Lloyd-Hughes as bogus ghostbusters hired to rid a country mansion of the screams of the wee poppets who were murdered there. Imrie was their foster mother, her son the killer, so it's no surprise when she announces that the brats had it coming. What is striking is how she maintains her cool, and keeps the volume down, even once she turns torture-porn-style aggressor. 'It's quiet time now,' she whispers, approaching her victim's mouth with a needle and thread. It all goes a bit wild after she whips the hacksaw out. Time has been kind to this factually inspired Britcom about the Women's Institute members – played by stars including Helen Mirren, Julie Walters and Linda Bassett – who strip for a charity calendar, ruffling feathers but raising enough to fund an entire leukaemia ward at their local hospital. Eventually, they end up in Hollywood, hob-nobbing with Jay Leno and the thrash metal band Anthrax, of all people. Imrie gives lots of comic side-eye as she works out with a hot young trainer in preparation for the big shoot; she is the only one to express disappointment that her breasts will be tastefully concealed in the final product. 'Yours good, are they?' asks Mirren, to which she coolly replies: 'They're tremendous.' Accept no Imrie-tations. Imelda Staunton is the hoity-toity snob ('Lady Nevershit', as she is referred to) who flees her cheating husband and moves in with her wild-swimming, dope-smoking, bisexual sister, Bif (Imrie), in the latter's council flat, as well as joining her and classmates Timothy Spall and Joanna Lumley at the local dance group. Imrie is in free spirit mode again, but more complex here than in Year By the Sea – although, weirdly, both films show her boogieing to the Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace. Until cancer puts paid to her Extinction Rebellion vim, she exudes sexual swagger. 'Thirty minutes and I'll be good to go,' says her date, waggling a blister pack of Viagra. 'I'll get you there in 10,' she grins. The only feature to be directed by the Orkney-based poet and film-maker Margaret Tait gave Imrie an early dramatic lead. She plays Barbara, a discontented photographer puzzling over the life and death of her mother, who drowned years earlier. Was it sleepwalking or suicide? Sifting episodes from her own and her mother's childhood, Barbara dreams of flying, wrestles with guilt ('I should have been able to stop her, or save her') and spars with her own lover, played by the perpetually sanguine Jack Shepherd. This gives Imrie room to exhibit her brittle, indignant intelligence and to sigh an awful lot. With her faintly formidable air, it's easy to imagine she could have become the next Charlotte Rampling.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Everybody's favourite manic pixie dream aunt: Celia Imrie's 20 best films – ranked!
Emma Thompson's Mary-Poppins-with-warts is a dog's dinner of a movie, but Celia Imrie amuses herself (and occasionally us) with a broader-than-usual turn as the widowed Mrs Quickly, who is pursuing a father of seven (Colin Firth) forced by his aunt to marry within 30 days or face penury. Imrie cites this as one of her favourite roles, despite having a live tarantula on her head in one scene and a wriggling worm in her mouth in another. Among Imrie's earliest credits was this exploitation horror about a secret, sadistic correctional institute for young women. Barely glimpsed amid the frenzy of whipping, she tries to alert the outside world by throwing a Bible from a window. 'Whenever I am in one of those awful out-of-the-frying-pan situations where you escape only to end up back where you started, I still use the phrase: 'How House of Whipcord!'' she recalled in her 2012 autobiography, The Happy Hoofer. A casting director spotted Imrie opposite Harold Pinter in his play The Hothouse and recommended her to George Lucas for the tiny role of the fighter pilot Bravo 5. She wore rust-coloured jodhpurs, but, on Lucas's orders and to her chagrin, no lipstick: 'I did my bit and fired my guns, but I haven't a notion what side I was on, who I was firing the guns at, who I was hitting and whether or not we won.' Nothing very much for Imrie to do as Una, the best chum of Bridget's mother, beyond presiding over the barbecue and offering to sieve the gravy, but she gets the occasional faux pas and adds generally to the impression of a high-calibre cast free of dead wood. She returned for extra helpings in the sequels. Feeling more like a victory lap than a fully fledged movie, this allows Imrie to reprise her sitcom role as Claudia Bing, the PR rival to Jennifer Saunders' Edina Monsoon. It is Claudia who blows the whistle after Edina apparently kills Kate Moss by knocking her into the Thames, and Claudia who prevents Jon Hamm from rushing valiantly to the model's aid. Imrie was kitted out in 'full rustic wench costume' for this time-travelling folkloric fantasy, but Christopher Lambert was too weedy to lift her on to his horse for the intended goodbye kiss. Instead, she simply grabs his calf and jogs beside him 'while delivering the dialogue that I should have been doing as we galloped along together'. There was more drama for her off-screen than on: she was briefly snatched from her hotel by a man who declared himself intent on continuing the Pictish tradition of kidnapping women. This The-Omen-meets-The-Da-Vinci-Code potboiler stars James D'Arcy as the cryptographer uncovering a plot to revive the antichrist. Po-faced Terence Stamp and Udo Kier have considerably less fun than Derek Jacobi, seen fleetingly as a librarian who brandishes a pair of cotton gloves and promises to check Isaac Newton's papers 'for stains and so on'. Imrie is the hero's mother, burnt to a crisp in only her second scene and squeezing out her final words in a high-pitched squeak. Most of the razzle-dazzle in this part prequel, part sequel comes courtesy of Cher, who makes her entrance by helicopter. But Imrie lets her hair down as the vice-chancellor of Oxford university on graduation day. Once Lily James, as the young version of Meryl Streep's character, Donna, has warbled her share of When I Kissed the Teacher and zoomed off across the quad, Imrie leaps from the stage trailing a canary-yellow feather boa and trilling: 'What a mad day!' In this London-set lesbian romcom, the newlywed Piper Perabo leaves her husband for the florist (Lena Headey) who supplied their wedding bouquets. As the bride's mother, Imrie nails the character in her haughty opening lines: 'Darling, tell your father he can't wear that suit … I've seen better dressed crab.' But there are nuanced delights to come, including the thawing of relations between Imrie and her husband (Anthony Head) during the sort of last-minute race through traffic that was compulsory in Britcoms of the Richard Curtis era. If there were ever a movie star in dire need of a spell at a Swiss spa resort, it's the sickly looking Dane DeHaan. In this horror inspired by Magic Mountain and Shutter Island, he is the executive sent to retrieve a colleague, only to find madness and murder afoot. Imrie, first seen doing a crossword with her fellow bathrobed guests, dispenses gobbets of backstory about the institute's sinister origins. With prim lips and loaded stares, she delivers her portentous dialogue with aplomb. 'There is a terrible darkness here,' she warns DeHaan. Next stop: the morgue. Emerging from the Cape Cod fog like a mermaid, Imrie plays one of the wacky catalysts for a disillusioned writer's journey of self-discovery, offering a slogan for every occasion: 'Who wants the burden of control?' 'If we can't show our feelings, we might as well be men!' She has a fine rapport with the film's lead, Karen Allen (of Raiders of the Lost Ark), but her character is essentially a manic pixie dream aunt who twirls coloured scarves, whoops among the waves and impishly ignores the 'Do Not Enter' signs around the lighthouse. Imagine Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe , but served as a side, not a main. With Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, this Brits-in-India getaway is the Avengers Assemble of older British character actors. Imrie gets the slimmest pickings plot-wise, as the grandmother who opts for Jaipur rather than an eternity of babysitting. She packs her shrewd smirk and that reliable libido (on securing an airline upgrade: 'I had to flirt so hard with the travel agent it was practically phone sex') and gets several other choice lines, complaining about getting old ('I don't want to be the first person they let off the plane in a hostage crisis') and offering terse advice on how the unhappily married Nighy could celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary ('Perhaps a minute's silence?'). A 2015 sequel offered her character a glimmer of romance. Or Outnumbered: The Movie. The writer-directors Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin preserve the partly improvised nature of their kids-say-the-darnedest-things sitcom while replacing its stars, Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, with David Tennant and Rosamund Pike. The 'sit' in this 'com' is the birthday party of their dying grandpa (Billy Connolly). After he expires on the beach in the company of the children, Imrie is called in from the child welfare unit. Reacting with understated incredulity to the kids' tales of Viking funerals and the Norse god Odin, she rounds up their crayon drawings as evidence. Mary Norton's adventure novel about a tiny resourceful family who live in the skirting boards and hide from 'human beans' has been the source of numerous adaptations, including Studio Ghibli's Arrietty in 2010. This inventive British version, with Imrie and Jim Broadbent delightful as the parents and John Goodman in full panto mode as the hissable developer threatening their home, is a charmer. Gemma Jackson's production design is a special highlight. 'It was fabulous walking around the gigantic chair and table legs and sitting on huge cotton reels,' said Imrie. In a structurally daring biopic scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce and carved into two contrasting perspectives, Imrie plays the tenacious mother of the cellist Jacqueline du Pré (Emily Watson), encouraging competition with her sister Hilary (Rachel Griffiths). 'If you want to be together, you've got to be as good as each other,' she insists, establishing a pattern of rivalry that splashes over into their love lives. In her early scenes as the grieving mother Mimi, Imrie makes you realise that, with the help of some heavyweight roles, she could have approached the gravitas of her pal Glenda Jackson (she was Goneril to Jackson's Lear in 2016). Just look at her deep grooves of experience and regret, her instant access to purse-lipped froideur. That dissipates as Mimi helps to launch the west London patisserie her late daughter never got the chance to open, and tensions vanish beneath a dusting of feelgood whimsy thicker than several inches of icing sugar. But Imrie is highly watchable in her flirtations with the neighbourhood inventor (Bill Paterson), whom she invites up for coffee. If it isn't decaf, he says, he'll be 'up all night'. Cue the naughty Imrie twinkle: 'Lucky me.' Haunted-house horror starring Florence Pugh and Ben Lloyd-Hughes as bogus ghostbusters hired to rid a country mansion of the screams of the wee poppets who were murdered there. Imrie was their foster mother, her son the killer, so it's no surprise when she announces that the brats had it coming. What is striking is how she maintains her cool, and keeps the volume down, even once she turns torture-porn-style aggressor. 'It's quiet time now,' she whispers, approaching her victim's mouth with a needle and thread, though admittedly it all goes a bit bat-shit once she whips the hacksaw out. Time has been kind to this factually inspired Brit-com about the Women's Institute members – played by the likes of Helen Mirren, Julie Walters and Linda Bassett – who strip for a charity calendar, ruffling feathers but raising enough to fund an entire leukaemia ward at their local hospital. Eventually they end up in Hollywood, hob-nobbing with Jay Leno and the thrash metal band Anthrax of all people. Imrie gives lots of comic side-eye as she works out with a hot young trainer in preparation for the big shoot, and is the only one to express disappointment that her breasts will be tastefully concealed in the final product. 'Yours good, are they?' asks Mirren, to which she coolly replies: 'They're tremendous.' Accept no Imrie-tations. Imelda Staunton is the hoity-toity snob ('Lady Nevershit', as she is referred to) who flees her cheating husband and moves in with her wild-swimming, dope-smoking, bisexual sister Bif (Imrie) in the latter's council flat, as well as joining her and classmates Timothy Spall and Joanna Lumley at the local dance group. Imrie is in free spirit mode again, but more complex here than in Year by the Sea – though, weirdly, both films show her boogieing to the Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace. Until cancer puts paid to her Extinction Rebellion vim, she exudes sexual swagger. 'Thirty minutes and I'll be good to go,' says her date, waggling a blister pack of Viagra. 'I'll get you there in 10,' she grins. The only feature to be directed by the Orkney-based poet and film-maker Margaret Tait gave Imrie an early dramatic lead. She plays Barbara, a discontented photographer puzzling over the life and death of her mother, who drowned years earlier. Was it sleepwalking or suicide? Sifting episodes from her own and her mother's childhood, Barbara dreams of flying, wrestles with guilt ('I should have been able to stop her, or save her') and spars with her own lover, played by the perpetually sanguine Jack Shepherd. This gives Imrie room to exhibit her brittle, indignant intelligence and to sigh an awful lot. With her faintly formidable air, it's easy to imagine she could have become the next Charlotte Rampling.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Who's who in Wimbledon's royal box? Rob Burrow's widow Lindsey joins Prince Michael of Kent, Bear Grylls and Deborah Meaden on centre court on day four in SW19
It was another VIP-studded afternoon at Wimbledon on Thursday, as Prince Michael of Kent, Bear Grylls and A-lister Rory Kinnear all showed up to enjoy day four of the action. Lindsey Burrow, the widow of late rugby star Rob Burrow - who passed away from motor neuron disease last year - also made an appearance at the tennis today, along with her brother. Elsewhere, Dragons' Den mogul Deborah Meaden was also pictured on day four of the event. Bringing some showbiz glamour to the best seats in Centre Court, Celia Imrie looked typically chic in a pale pink double-breasted blazer as she took in the tennis action. The British actress and author is famous for her roles in Bridget Jones, Calendar Girls and Mamma Mia! Here we go again. The high-profile guests all enjoyed a seat at the coveted Royal Box at SW19 - which in previous days has hosted Princess Beatrice, Olivia Rodrigo and Sir David Beckham. As the name suggests, it often houses members of the Royal Family, notably the Princess of Wales, who is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Today, guests were able to watch Novak Djokovic versus Dan Evans in the men's singles and Mirra Andreeva up against Lucia Bronzetti in the women's. Lindsey Burrow The widow of late rugby player Rob Burrow - who last year passed away after a five-year-battle with motor neurone disease - was seen in the royal box with her brother Mark Newton. Lindsey, 41, became her husband's carer - after he was paralysed and unable to communicate in the years after his diagnosis; and has detailed the experience in a memoir called 'Take Care: A Memoir Of Love, Family & Never Giving Up'. A fan favourite, Rob won eight Super League titles across with Leeds across a 17-year career. After his health issues, he dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for the MND community, receiving support from his old Leeds team-mate Kevin Sinfield. In February, in a touching interview with The Sun, Linsdey opened up on the family's journey over the five years from when they first identified something was wrong with his health. Rob passed away on June 2, 2024, and Lindsey recounted how he had come back to life on May 30 - giving loved ones more precious moments to say goodbye. 'As I sat in the corner of Rob's hospital room with Jackson, watching Ghostbusters together on a little DVD player, my husband suddenly started to struggle to breathe,' she said. 'Doctors and nurses rushed in as his oxygen levels and heart rate took a dive. We expected to lose him, and a consultant advised us to say goodbye. I couldn't quite believe it. 'Except, being Rob Burrow, he rallies again, giving us time to make special memories. 'Two sets of blood tests had been assessed that the doctors said showed Rob had come through something called Lazarus syndrome. 'I didn't understand it at first but, then, it sounded miraculous. It occurs when blood circulation returns spontaneously after the heart stops beating. The blood tests told us that, just after lunchtime, Rob had basically come back from the dead.' That same evening, his friend Kevin Sinfield, who had raised more than £7million for MND charities dropped by to say a heartbreaking goodbye. 'At Pinderfields, Kev gave Rob a cuddle as he gently ribbed him. Beneath the gentle humour, Kev knew it was time to say goodbye when Rob began to look exhausted. 'Kev leaned down to kiss Rob on his damp forehead. 'I love you pal', he said. Then Kev slowly turned away. He knew he would never see Rob again.' Prince Michael of Kent Yesterday, it was his wife that made a sophisticated appearance in the royal box - but today, Prince Michael of Kent, 82, himself was spotted watching the tennis. He is the first cousin of the late Queen and the son of George VI brother, Prince George, Duke of Kent - and is a keen tennis fan, often seen at Wimbledon. In 2022, he and his wife revealed they are to retire from royal life, months after Michael stepped down as patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, and handed back an Order of Friendship award, one of Russia's highest honours. The Queen's first cousin is a fluent Russian speaker with a lineage to Tsar Nicholas II, was forced to sever his ties to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. According to the official Royal Family website, Prince Michael is classified as a 'non-working royal' and partakes in more than 200 public engagements for the not-for-profit sector, which are funded by his own household, rather than the taxpayer. Princess Michael, who is nicknamed 'Princess Pushy' in some royal circles, is 'actively involved in around 45 different charities and organisations', according to the website, 'including animal and wildlife trusts and health and welfare charities'. Born in 1942, his first memorable appearance was as a five-year-old as a page boy at the Queen's wedding to Prince Philip. While just outside the top 50 for succession to the throne, he is often seen at the side of the Queen at family events. He has two siblings who he is often seen with, Princess Alexandra and the Duke of Kent. Bear and Shara Grylls Despite this, Grylls is said to be close friends with the Prince of Wales and has collaborated with him and the Duke of Sussex on various wildlife conservation projects throughout the years British adventurer Bear Grylls swapped treacherous and remote conditions for the comfort of the Royal Box today. Grylls, 51, is an Eton College alumnus - the same school attended by Prince William and Prince Harry. However, being eight years older than William, Bear did not share classes with either of the princes. Despite this, Grylls is said to be close friends with the Prince of Wales and has collaborated with him and the Duke of Sussex on various wildlife conservation projects throughout the years. He sat alongside his author wife, Shara Grylls, 51, with whom he shares three children. The pair tied the knot in 2000 after a whirlwind romance, having known each other for about two years. The adventurer has previously revealed he and Shara entered marriage counselling at the beginning of their union as a preventative measure to guide them through married life. Shara has written two books since the marriage, the first of which - Marriage Matters - was released in 2009. Rory Kinnear A-lister Rory Kinnear, 47, was pictured in the royal box along with his mother - fellow actress Carmel, 75. He is perhaps best known for his performances as MI6 agent Bill Tanner in the James Bond films, as well as roles in Bank of Dave, The Imitation Game. Rory has also been in television series including The Thick of It, Black Mirror and Our Flag Means Death. In 2020, Rory revealed that his sister Karina died from the coronavirus pandemic. In December that year, the actor paid tribute to her on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, calling her 'an anchor of kindness'. Karina, 48, had been left severely disabled after suffering a lack of oxygen at birth that caused severe brain damaged, and Rory explained in his tribute that her inspiring approach to life is something he has held onto through his grief. 'Even the things I never thought I'd miss have become enveloped in a fondness,' he said. 'The smell of a hospital, the puffy hum of a nebuliser, the soft mechanical burr of a hoist.' 'And I have realised the privilege of growing up with these things as a norm, as an anchor. Because Karina required kindness to live and such was her spirit, her sense of humour, gentle strength, her vibrant passion to live.' 'What she was given, she returned with interest. A transaction of effort and reward. I was fortunate to witness so often. That anchor of kindness has been what many of us have held onto in this year of loss, restriction and renewal. Even more so when we have felt its absence.' Rory went on to say that he's seen that anchor of kindness in so many places in 2020, explaining: 'We've seen it in the courage of our country's medical and care staff, in the movements towards greater racial equality, in the campaigns to feed children in poverty.' 'Acts of kindness and courage from people who understand that those who need help are not obstacles or drains on our pity or resources. They are repositories of as much knowledge and light as anyone else.' Rory ended his emotional tribute with the words: 'Karina was sunshine. She just required you to engage, to pull back the curtains to see it. An act that rewarded far more than it asked. For her, for all she taught me and revealed, it's the anchor of kindness I hope to hold onto tightest for the rest of my life.' Deborah Jevans Deborah Jevans, 65, is a former England tennis star who played in 10 Grand Slam competitions between 1979 and 1983. She is married to Andrew Jarrett, a former tennis player and Wimbledon referee, with whom she played mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1978, reaching the quarter finals. Deborah became Vice-Chair of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in July 2023. She was appointed CBE in 2013 for services to sport and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sandi Procter The Lawn Tennis Association's President Sandi Procter was also spotted happily watching the Wimbledon action today. Sandi is currently the second female president of the LTA and will serve in the role for the next three years. The tennis fan previously worked as a PE teacher before becoming a coach. She was working as the manager of Bromley Tennis Centre when US Open winner Emma Raduncau was based there. David Haggerty David Haggerty - who has been the President of the International Tennis Federation since 2015 - attended Wimbledon with his wife Liz today. He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee for four years, as well as being a board member for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. It's not the first time the pair have been spotted at the event - as they are, for obvious reasons, tennis fans! The Lord and Dame Hague of Richmond The titles Lord Hague of Richmond and Dame Hague of Richmond refer to William Hague and wife Ffion Hague. Now a life peer in the House of Lords, William, 64, was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001. More recently, he held high level roles in the Conservative Party under David Cameron. William served as Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2014 and was Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Oxford, where he studied for his undergraduate degree, in February 2025. Ffion, 57, is a Welsh author and broadcaster, and a former civil servant. She is well known for her biography of David Lloyd George, who was the UK Prime Minister from 1916 to 1922. Ffion has presented a number of television programmes as well as shows for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4. Celia Imrie Typically chic in a pale pink double-breasted blazer, Celia Imrie is a British actress and author famous for her roles in Bridget Jones, Calendar Girls and Mamma Mia! Here we go again. Celia, 72, has starred in the Netflix series The Diplomat since 2023 and has also worked in theatre. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2023 for services to drama. In 2006, Celia won an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Acorn Antiques: The Musical! William Jackson William Jackson, who hails from Cheshire, was appointed in May 2025, with the role due to start after the end of this year's Wimbledon tournament. A businessman and philanthropist, William Jackson is the founder of global private equity firm Bridgepoint and served as its Chief Executive and Chair until 2023. He has previously held leadership roles at Pret A Manger and MotoGP. Adam Kelly Adam Kelly is the President of global sports, events and media firm IMG. Having arrived at the company 24 years ago as a recent graduate keen to work in the sports industry, Adam rose the ranks to the highest position. Rachel Kyte She is also the Professor of Practice in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and is a dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, her government website explains Rachel Kyte, the UK special representative for climate, was also in attendance on Thursday. She is also the Professor of Practice in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and is a dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, her government website explains. Kyte currently supports Ministers in finding ways to increase engagement on climate and clean energy. Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller The former Chair of the Conduct Committee and Former Director General of the MI5, Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, also observed the tennis from the Royal Box on Thursday. University of Oxford-educated Eliza, 76, previously worked as a teacher for three years before joining MI5. Her work's focus was counterterrorism, both internationally and domestically, according to the MI5's website. Deborah Meaden Deborah Meaden looked glamorous as she joined fellow tennis fans in Wimbledon's Royal Box today. The 66-year-old businesswoman, who previously ran a successful holiday business, is best known for her appearances as a Dragon on BBC 's Dragons' Den. The TV personality, who is married to husband Paul Farmer, has been starring on the BBC show since its third series in 2006. Michael Murray Michael Murray, CEO of Frasers Group, attended Wimbledon on Thursday with his wife, Anna, the eldest daughter of Mike Ashley. Anna married the successor to her father's Fraser's retail empire in a lavish wedding at Blenheim Palace in 2022. The nuptials came days after Michael officially took the reins from Ashley as the new chief executive of the Fraser Group, with his billionaire father-in-law stepping down from the role. Tim Phillips Member of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Tim Phillips, was among the celebrities in the Royal Box on Thursday. Tim, a regular Wimbledon attendee, previously chaired the club for eleven years from 1999 to 2010. Tim, a Harvard Business School Honorary Fellow, was awarded a CBE in 2007 for his services to tennis. Feargal Sharkey He is an outspoken environmentalist who has campaigned widely to prevent untreated sewage from being dumped into UK waterways Northern Irish singer Feargal Sharkey, who fronted punk band The Undertones in the 1970s and 1980s, attended with his wife, Elizabeth. Sharkey went on to have a career as a solo artist and is best known for his 1985 number one single 'A Good Heart'. He is an outspoken environmentalist who has campaigned widely to prevent untreated sewage from being dumped into UK waterways. In 2019, the 66-year-old esteemed vocalist was appointed OBE for his service to the music industry. Chris Stark Chris Stark, the former CEO of the Climate Change Committee and the Carbon Trust, observed today's matches with his wife Marianne. Chris led the Committee's work to recommend a 'Net Zero' target for the UK, the world's first legislated Net Zero target, according to the University of Cambridge. The sustainability-focused businessman currently heads the UK's Mission for Clean Power. Betty Stove Former Dutch tennis player Betty Stove joined the famous faces in the Royal Box today. The 80-year-old is no stranger to the game, and in 1977, she reached the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year. Stove, from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, lost the title in the 1997 final to Britain's Virginia Wade. Irene Tracey Professor Irene Tracey is the current vice-chancellor of Oxford University, where she previously studied biochemistry. Her more than two decades of research has focused on pain perception and pain relief. In Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth's final New Years Honours List in 2022, she was appointed to Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to medical research. Sir Clive and Lady Woodward Former England rugby union player and coach, Sir Clive Woodward, watched the live sporting event from the Royal Box on Thursday alongside his wife, Lady Jayne Williams. The 69-year-old coached England's rugby team from 1997 to 2004 and led them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was knighted in the 2004 New Year Honours for his services to rugby union, given that his leadership skills led England's team to claim the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Lennard Hoorknik Lennard Hoornik has been the Chief Commercial Officer of British carmaker JLR since 2021. He overseas global sales and marketing for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. James Skea James Skea, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, appeared in high spirits as he observed the action. The 71-year-old is also a Professor of Sustainable Energy at London's Imperial College. King Charles knighted the British academic in his Birthday Honours list last year for his significant contribution to his field. Stuart Smith Former president and chairman of Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Stuart Smith, enjoyed the tennis from the Royal Box on Thursday. Smith is widely acknowledged for his contributions to tennis in the UK, and he serves on multiple committees within the LTA. Simon Jones Tennis coach Simon Jones was previously a professional athlete who played at Wimbledon qualifying. He was appointed an LTA National Coach in 1990, and went on to lead 14 GB boys to the European and World titles. He established the first LTA Academy at the University of Bath in 1995, where he was Team Bath Director of Coaching. At the same time, he was also part of the Great Britain Davis Cup Team support staff. In 2019, he left the LTA Executive Team, where he was a regular attendee at the LTA Main Board, to take consultancy roles in football, working as the Head of Coach Development at Chelsea FC and Coaching advisor to the Premier League. Simon Jones is currently Head of Performance at Chelsea FC (Academy). David Rawlinson The previous LTA President, David Rawlinson's term ended in December 2023, when he was succeeded by Sandi Procter. Chris Bryant Government minister Sir Chris Bryant was among the VIPs seated in the royal box this afternoon. He was joined by Labour councillor Gareth Wyn Hughes. Sir Chris, who used to be a Church of England priest, became Minister for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology - and Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism - since last year. Ashley Tatum Ashley Tatum works at a consulting firm, Proteus - but has also been a non-executive ALETC Board Member for nearly a decade. Writing of his experiences on LinkedIn, he described aiding in the 'development of strategy and oversight of all commercial relationships and event management delivery for The Championships, Wimbledon, and for the running of the Club as a private members' club'. He had also supported as Chair of Board Committees for Information Technology & Ticketing and Club Operations as as Member of other Board Committees 'focused on strategy and delivery oversight for Estate Development, and Championships' Operations'. Paul Barber Football executive Paul Barber was seen enjoying the tennis this afternoon. He is the chief executive and deputy chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion, but has worked at other clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Paul has also worked with the Football Association, The Football League and The FA Council. Jane Bush Jane Bush is a Trustee of homeless charity Faith in Action. The site says that she works as an independent producer across film and TV, including past projects with the BBC and Film 4. 'Jane has been a long-time volunteer at the Faith in Action Homeless Drop-in, as well as a venue coordinator for one of the host-venue founder members of the Merton Winter Night Shelte,' it added. 'Jane continues to be an active volunteer in both areas.' Niamh Cusack and Finbar Lynch Irish actors Niamh Cusack, 65, and Finbar Lynch, 65, attended Wimbledon together today. The pair, who are married, are both known for their myriad of roles across theatre and the screen. Their son Calam Lynch, 30, plays Theo Sharpe in Bridgerton. Mark Darbon Mark Darbon, 45, is the recently appointed Chief Executive of the The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. It was last year announced that he would be succeeding Martin Slumbers in the role. 'I am thrilled and honoured to be taking up these positions with The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and to be moving into golf, a sport I have always loved,' he said of he announcement. 'The R&A is a globally renowned organisation and does so much to ensure that golf prospers from grassroots through to the professional game. I am looking forward to working with a hugely talented team of staff, the Club membership and such an impressive array of partner organisations to achieve even more success in the years to come.' He has also worked for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012 as well as being the CEO of Northampton Saints. Emily Eavis and Nick Dewey Emily Eavis co-organises Glastonbury festival with her father, Michael Eavis, and is married to musician and music producer Nick Dewey. Michael founded the festival in 1970 and Emily, 45, has taken on a greater role in recent years after the death of her mother. Nick's music credits include Don't Think by The Chemical Brothers and Why Make Sense? by Hot Chip. Rita El Zaghloul Rita El Zaghloul is a former winner of Prince William's prestigious Earthshot Prize, which is dedicated to supporting those working on solutions for urgent environmental issues. Rita, who is based in Washington, D.C., is currently Director of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature & People and has previously held roles at the United Nations. David Fein Lawyer David Fein served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2010 to 2013 under President Obama. Today, the 54-year-old runs a global team of 600 legal staff at investment bank Standard Chartered. Alan Giddins Alan Giddins was recently appointed Chair of West Kensington's The Queen's Club, which is famous for the annual Queen's Club Championships tennis tournament. He is Executive Chair and Chair of public companies Hill & Smith PLC and Watkin Jones PLC, respectively.
