‘She was the bedrock of my life’: Michael Palin announces his beloved wife Helen has died after suffering with chronic pain and kidney failure
Michael has announced his beloved wife of 57 years Helen has sadly died after suffering with chronic pain and kidney failure.
The actor, 79, confirmed the devastating news in a post shared to his official website on Tuesday, sharing that Helen had died in the early hours of the morning.
He described her as the ‘bedrock of my life’ and said her death was an ‘indescribable loss’ for himself and their three children – Thomas, 54, William, 52, and Rachel, 48.
Michael shared that his childhood sweetheart Helen had been suffering with chronic pain for a few years and had been diagnosed with kidney failure before her death.
The couple met when they were just 16 years old and married in 1966 when they were in their early 20s, recently marking their 57th wedding anniversary.
Loss: Michael has announced his beloved wife Helen has sadly died after suffering with chronic pain and kidney failure
Announcing the tragic news on his website, Michael wrote: ‘My dearest wife Helen died peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
‘She had been suffering with chronic pain for several years, which was compounded a few years ago by a diagnosis of kidney failure.
‘We first met on a summer holiday on the Suffolk coast when we were both sixteen and we married in our early twenties. Two and a half weeks ago we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary.
‘Her death is an indescribable loss for myself, our three children and four grandchildren.
‘Helen was the bedrock of my life. Her quietly wise judgment informed all my decisions and her humour and practical good sense was was at the heart of our life together.
‘The family ask that their privacy be respected at this time.’
Last September, Michael spoke about Helen’s ill-health as he shared that she had been moved into respite care from the home they had shared for 50 years.
He explained that she had not been responding to medication for her chronic pain, saying they had moved her to help her ‘manage’ her symptoms.
Michael told the Telegraph at the time: ‘I don’t think you can cure it, but they will help her manage it.
‘It’s such a bore. She was so active and still is mentally. But the body is declining. We live life with our fingers crossed.’
