BBC Two’s series, The Mary Berry Story, has given us with some truly great Mary Berry facts and anecdotes, but last night saw a more sombre Mary open up about the tragic day she found out her son had died at the age of 19.
During last night’s (11 November) episode, Mary described what it felt like losing her son William in a motor accident in 1989.
‘Will came back from [university] on the Friday night and he hadn’t been home for a few weekends, so I thought I’ll do roast lamb, because it’s his favourite,’ she began.
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‘I can remember Will walking through the door on that Friday and asking me, “Mum, who's coming?” And I said, “It’s you! It’s so lovely to have you home, and Annabel and Tom, too.” So we had a lovely family meal.’
The former Great British Bake Off host then went on to describe the events of the next day, during which William went for a drive in his parent’s car only to be involved in a crash that took his life.
‘It was a glorious January day,’ Mary reflected. ‘And it was sort of one o’clock and he wasn't home.’
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Choking back tears, she added: ‘The doorbell rang and there was a policeman there, and immediately I knew why. And he said there had been an accident and “I’m sorry to say your son is dead”.’
Following the news, Mary and her husband, Paul Hunnings, went to Wycombe Hospital to see their son.
‘[The staff] were so understanding, and then they said, “Would you like to see William?” And he just looked so beautiful and so lovely, his little cold face… and it was nice to say farewell.’
They day after the tragic accident, Mary and her family went to church where she spotted a memorial plaque created by a fellow mum who had lost three sons during World War One.
‘I looked and I thought: I knew how I was feeling having lost one, how would she be feeling having lost three? Then I thought, well we’re just so lucky to still have our other two children.’
‘We had William for 19 years, and he was just such fun and we have great, great memories.’
Mary Berry has two other children, Annabel and Thomas Hunnings, with husband Paul. She added how grateful she was to have the support of her husband, saying: ‘It was a great comfort to us both to have each other. Your life-long partner. I was so lucky to have him.’
The Mary Berry Story is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
(via Digital Spy)
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