Mary Berry's found 'great comfort' after son's death - and it's not cooking
The legendary cook, writer and presenter enjoyed 'peaceful' moment in one particular place at home.
National treasure Mary Berry is widely adored for her services as a culinary writer, chef and presenter, but she spent most of her time reflecting life in gardens. The 91-year-old says she found great comfort in a garden, especially when her son, William, died many years ago.
Sharing her reflections on BBC Sound, the former Great British Bake Off icon described her love for gardening. She said: "I opened the door, get out in the fresh air and it's amazing how you feel so much better. The garden is peaceful, the noises that we hear in our gardens are just the birds and perhaps an odd dog giving it a bark, but it's so restful. And if you've had a tragedy as we did, we lost our son and that was when the garden was of great comfort."
The author of My Gardening Life said the garden gave her time to "think and say 'we were fortunate in many other ways'". She also opened up about thinking of her late son William every day, after losing him in 1989 when he was just 19 years old.
"He was a lovely child and at 19, he went. But we still had two other children and they are wonderful to us, we look after them but we still talk about him a lot," Mary added.
In May, Mary was honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship, which is considered the highest accolade bestowed by the Academy, recognising her exceptional six-decade career as a beloved broadcaster and cookery writer. She was joined by her former Bake Off co-stars, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.
BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip praised Mary for setting "a new benchmark for factual entertainment" and proving that expertise and empathy can draw huge primetime audiences.
Mary shared: "I thought it [BAFTAs] went to actors and actresses and not a cook and a gardener. But I was just overwhelmed and immensely honoured. The difficulty was in front of 3,000 people, let alone the people at home, I had to make a speech and that was a lot of reflections and memories.
"But I did it, and I thank them very much."
Mary also attended the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and was partnered with celebrity florist Hamish Powell to produce an installation featuring blue irises. At the event, they shared a touch of banter, and Mary reportedly described the florist "fruity", to which Hamish later told The Observer and joked: "By the end, the Dame and I were practically snogging."
