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Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I'm being booted out of our £4m home in 10 days… but I REFUSE to leave, says Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips' widow
After Leslie, who voiced The Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, died two and a half years ago aged 98, the contents of his will remained private KEEP CALM & CARRY ON I'm being booted out of our £4m home in 10 days… but I REFUSE to leave, says Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips' widow Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CARRY ON star Leslie Phillips' widow is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life. Zara Phillips has been warned by lawyers that if she does not vacate by August 7, they will go to court to get her out. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Leslie Phillips' widow Zara is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life Credit: Brad Wakefield - The Sun 4 Zara has been warned by lawyers that if she does not vacate by August 7, they will go to court to get her out Credit: Jon Bond But Zara, 69, insists: 'I am not going.' After Leslie, who voiced The Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, died two and a half years ago aged 98, the contents of his will remained private. But when his last wishes were made public in 2024, it became clear that Leslie's will had been changed during the Covid crisis. The new will, approved in the Court of Protection, was substantially different to the one drawn up by Leslie the day before the couple married in December 2013. In 2014 Leslie suffered a massive stroke, and Zara quit work and looked after him until his death in November 2022. Leslie's first will had allowed Zara, his third wife and 36 years his junior, to stay in his £4million West London home for the rest of her life. But former air stewardess Zara discovered that a new will states the property must be sold and the proceeds put into a trust fund to be divided between her and Leslie's two sons and two daughters from his first marriage to actress Penelope Bartley. The new will, drawn up in November 2020, insists Zara has to be out of the five-bed property next month. According to a legal letter seen by The Sun, if she refuses to go, lawyers will apply to the courts for possession. Fighting back tears Zara says: 'Where would I go? I am in ill-health, old and frail, not well enough to move and I am still grieving.' Leslie Phillips dead at 98 – Harry Potter star who voiced Sorting Hat and Carry On icon passes away after long illness She adds: 'Leslie would not have wanted me to be thrown onto the street. I had known him for nearly 30 years. 'They told me that if I do go to court, they will deduct the money from my inheritance. 'The court can bring the bailiffs to throw me out but I won't go. The executors said, 'We know you looked after Leslie very well 24/7. That's the reason we're giving you money'. 'I found it very disrespectful. A wife doesn't charge her husband for looking after him when he is ill.' In a showbiz career lasting eight decades, Leslie appeared in more than 200 movies as well as hit TV series and on stage around the world. He was best known for his catchphrases 'Ding Dong', 'Well, Hellooo' and 'I Say' from appearing in 'Carry On' movies, delivered in rich dulcet tones. He wooed a new generation of fans as the voice of The Sorting Hat in Harry Potter movies, and also appeared with Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider as well as Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and in Out of Africa with Robert Redford. Leslie's personal life was plagued by tragedy. His first wife Penelope died in a house fire in 1981, while Leslie was in Australia. The following year he married Bond girl Angela Scoular, who killed herself in 2011 with a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol after suffering terminal bowel cancer. Zara, a friend for more than 20 years, helped Leslie come to terms with Angela's death. They fell in love and married in December 2013. The actor's estate is valued at over £5million, including the house, which he bought in the 1960s at the height of his fame. When Covid shut down the country in 2020, Zara protected Leslie from the effects of the pandemic. But at that time Leslie changed the will, giving Zara just two years nine months after his death to vacate the house. Zara says: 'I was very vulnerable that time. The country was in the grip of the Covid crisis. 'I was the main carer for Leslie, who was disabled. His will was not my priority at that time. 'I was younger than him and I was devoted and committed. He was my main priority. I loved him with all my heart. I did what I had to do and put Leslie first.' A spokesman for the executors of Leslie's will says: 'I confirm that the administration of Leslie Phillips' estate is ongoing in accordance with a Will approved by the Court of Protection. 'It would not be appropriate for me to comment further for reasons of confidentiality.' 4 The couple tied the knot back in 2013 Credit: Louis Hollingsbee - The Sun
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I'm being booted out of our £4m home in 10 days… but I REFUSE to leave, says Harry Potter star Leslie Phillips' widow
CARRY ON star Leslie Phillips' widow is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life. 4 Leslie Phillips' widow Zara is being ordered to leave the home they shared throughout their married life Credit: Brad Wakefield - The Sun 4 Zara has been warned by lawyers that if she does not vacate by August 7, they will go to court to get her out Credit: Jon Bond But Zara, 69, insists: 'I am not going.' After But when his last wishes were made public in 2024, it became clear that The new will, approved in the Court of Protection, was substantially different to the one drawn up by Leslie the day before the couple married in December 2013. Read More on Celebs In 2014 Leslie's first will had allowed Zara, his third wife and 36 years his junior, to stay in his £4million But former air stewardess Zara discovered that a new will states the property must be sold and the proceeds put into a trust fund to be divided between her and Leslie's two sons and two daughters from his first marriage to actress The new will, drawn up in November 2020, insists Zara has to be out of the five-bed property next month. Most read in Celebrity According to a legal letter seen by The Sun, if she refuses to go, lawyers will apply to the courts for possession. Fighting back tears Zara says: 'Where would I go? I am in ill-health, old and frail, not well enough to move and I am still grieving.' Leslie Phillips dead at 98 – Harry Potter star who voiced Sorting Hat and Carry On icon passes away after long illness She adds: 'Leslie would not have wanted me to be thrown onto the street. I had known him for nearly 30 years. 'They told me that if I do go to court, they will deduct the money from my inheritance. 'The court can bring the bailiffs to throw me out but I won't go. The executors said, 'We know you looked after Leslie very well 24/7. That's the reason we're giving you money'. 'I found it very disrespectful. A wife doesn't charge her husband for looking after him when he is ill.' In a showbiz career lasting eight decades, Leslie appeared in more than 200 movies as well as hit TV series and on stage around the world. He was best known for his catchphrases 'Ding Dong', 'Well, Hellooo' and 'I Say' from appearing in 'Carry On' movies, delivered in rich dulcet tones. He wooed a new generation of fans as the voice of The Sorting Hat in Leslie's personal life was plagued by tragedy. His first wife Penelope died in a house fire in 1981, while Leslie was in Australia. The following year he married Bond girl Angela Scoular, who killed herself in 2011 with a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol after suffering terminal bowel cancer. Zara, a friend for more than 20 years, helped Leslie come to terms with Angela's death. They fell in love and married in December 2013. The actor's estate is valued at over £5million, including the house, which he bought in the 1960s at the height of his fame. When Covid shut down the country in 2020, Zara protected Leslie from the effects of the pandemic. But at that time Leslie changed the will, giving Zara just two years nine months after his death to vacate the house. Zara says: 'I was very vulnerable that time. The country was in the grip of the Covid crisis. 'I was the main carer for Leslie, who was disabled. His will was not my priority at that time. 'I was younger than him and I was devoted and committed. He was my main priority. I loved him with all my heart. I did what I had to do and put Leslie first.' A spokesman for the executors of Leslie's will says: 'I confirm that the administration of Leslie Phillips' estate is ongoing in accordance with a Will approved by the Court of Protection. 'It would not be appropriate for me to comment further for reasons of confidentiality.' 4 The couple tied the knot back in 2013 Credit: Louis Hollingsbee - The Sun 4 In 2014 Leslie suffered a massive stroke, and Zara quit work and looked after him until his death in November 2022 Credit: Jon Bond
Herald Sun
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Herald Sun
How To Train Your Dragon: Nick Frost on nerd culture, Harry Potter reboot and Robbie Coltrane
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News. Less than a month out from the start of filming for the rebooted Harry Potter series and new Hagrid Nick Frost says he's already impressed the people he most wanted to impress. The UK actor, currently starring in the live action remake of How To Train Your Dragon, is taking the role over from the late Robbie Coltrane, who played the part of the kindly bearded giant in the eight Harry Potter films that were released between 2001 and 2011. Though he never met him in person, Frost says he was a huge fan of Coltrane growing up in the 1970s and 1980s – and apparently the feeling was mutual. 'I loved the fact he was massive and angry and that's how he began, as a kind of people's poet in a way,' says Frost over Zoom call from London. Nick Frost, who will replace Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid in the Harry Potter reboot, were mutual admirers. 'And I love that working-class element he brought to everything he did. I had never met him, but my best friend Danny knows his family very well. 'And apparently his kids phoned my mate Danny to say 'We are so happy that Nick got the role of Hagrid and that Dad was a really big fan of his'. So that to me kind of closes a book in terms of 'my job is done' because I feel like they're the only people I had to really impress.' Frost joins established actors including John Lithgow (Professor Dumbledore), Janet McTeer (Professor McGonagall) and Johnny Flynn (Lucius Malfoy) in the hugely anticipated Max series – as well newcomers Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Staunton and Alastair Stout, who play Harry, Hermione and Ron – and he says he's 'excited' to finally get started. Nick Frost as Gobber in Universal Pictures' live-action How to Train Your Dragon, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. 'We're like a month out from shooting and – being a fan and being a massive fan of fantasy – getting to go into a place where they are designing wands and the Sorting Hat and here's some owls, it's like 'this is amazing',' he says. 'It's just not lost on me and every time I go in and see a tiny bit more development being done and it's just amazing.' With last year's role voicing a droid in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, his current role as Gobber in How To Train Your Dragon and Harry Potter to come, Frost says 'there's not a theme park alive that I couldn't just bowl on into free of charge'. Frost says he based his role of Gobber, voiced by Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson in the three hit animated films, on hardman British actor Ray Winstone – not that he knows it. 'I haven't told Ray that,' he says with a laugh. 'I'll let him see the film first and see if he likes it. If he likes it, I'll say, 'I based it on you, Ray'.' Adam Siegel, Nick Frost, Mason Thames, Gerard Butler, Nico Parker and Dean DeBlois at the How to Train Your Dragon Immersive Experience Screening in London this month. Picture: Getty Images Playing the one-legged, one-armed trainer of dragon-fighters also involved a touch of method acting for Frost. He was just about to go in for surgery on his bad knee, but director Dean De Blois told him to hold off until shooting had wrapped so he could hobble around for real on his peg leg. 'The arm was great,' Frost adds. 'Every day they they'd knock on the trailer and there'd be an array of five different hands and they're like 'well, what do you fancy for the day?' There was a beer mug and a massive axe or a stone lump or a hammer and it was great getting to pick what I wanted each day.' How To Train Your Dragon is in cinemas now. Originally published as Nick Frost on How To Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter reboot and his special link to Robbie Coltrane
Daily Record
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Vandals torch children's beloved story characters within Ayrshire beauty spot
A series of willow sculptures within Ayr's Rozelle Park have been destroyed in a 'senseless act of vandalism.' The willow sculptures have been a popular fixture within the local beauty spot for the last three years and were part of a set of 11 such sculptures. They depict some of J.M. Barrie's classic characters and arch rivals such as Captain Hook and Peter Pan. They also boast the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter, Rupert Bear and Robert Louis Stevenson's Long John Silver, among others. The sculptures were created by local artist David Powell and formed part of a 'story stroll' at the park. But a series of characters including Peter Pan, Captain Hook sand Shrek have been destroyed and pictures show what appears to be singed ground where three of them once stood. A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said the damaged ones will be removed. They said: 'Due to a senseless act of vandalism, we'll have to remove some of the damaged willow sculptures at Rozelle Park. We're currently looking at different options to ensure this magical trail continues.' The vandalism has been condemned on social media. On the South Ayrshire Council Facebook page, one woman said: "I honestly can't believe people would do this! They must be evil!" Another posted: "Hope whoever did this now feels ashamed, although I doubt it. Utter vandalism!" And another message said: "Only mindless, selfish thugs would get any satisfaction from destroying artwork that so many locals, visitors and tourists continue to enjoy."
BBC News
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hampshire artist paints Harry Potter scenes on teabags
An artist who has painted scenes from fantasy books on used teabags said she does it to turn something that is typically discarded into "something beautiful".Caroline West, 50, from Waterlooville, Hampshire, has been painting on used tea bags since August has now created a limited edition collection of art depicting iconic characters, places and moments from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings."I'm an avid reader and I'm so inspired by how a storyteller can weave an entire world into a book," Mrs West said. "I just wanted to see if I could capture that feeling in miniature, on a teabag." For the Harry Potter series, Mrs West created seven painted teabags which feature memorable aspects from the J K Rowling fantasy book series, including the Hogwarts Express, the Sorting Hat and Lord of the Rings teabags - of which there are also seven - show Gollum, the eye of a dragon and silhouettes of characters from the fantasy series walking up a said it took several hours to create each began by drying the teabags out, then cut them up, removed the tea and ironed them edges were then taped, the tea bags were placed on backing paper, a base layer was applied and then she used acrylic paint to create the different scenes. Her Harry Potter teabags are for sale, whilst her The Lord of the Rings collection has already been sold."The most satisfying part about being an artist is creating something that brings someone else joy and is something that they love," she said."I think people are amazed with the art being on a teabag. I think it just really captures people's imagination." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
