Dame Maggie Smith's marriages, lonely final years after 'awful' loss and cheating agony

Dame Maggie Smith, who has passed away at the age of 89, spent her final years heartbroken following the loss of her second husband, and never recovered from the 'awful' loss

Dame Maggie Smith, who has passed away at the age of 89, spent her final years heartbroken following the loss of her second husband, with her work offering a much-needed balm for her grief.

The acclaimed actress, who played the formidable Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey, tied the knot for the first time in 1967, with fellow actor Robert Stephens, with whom she welcomed sons Chris and Toby. The two thespians were first introduced during the National Theatre at the Old Vic, and went on to appear in various films together, including one of Maggie's most iconic movies, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969).

Their marriage came to an end in 1973, with a traumatic incident putting a serious strain on the relationship.

Opening up to The Guardian in 2004, Maggie explained that Robert's reported attempted suicide while performing in the play The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes signalled the beginning of the end of their married life together. She shared: "And after that it was just hopeless. We had two little boys. He didn't understand. I sure as hell didn't understand. It got worse and then it went on getting worse and worse. In the end it was destroying everybody. And he was having so many affairs."

Maggie went on to find love again with celebrated playwright Beverly Cross, who she'd known since her teenage years as a star on the rise. When Maggie was 18, Beverley, then an Oxford undergraduate, begged her to marry him. However, at that time he was still in the process of getting divorced from his first wife.

By the time he was free to marry, Maggie had already set up a life for herself with Robert. However, after her divorce, a second chance arose for the pair, and so it was that they walked down the aisle together, 25 years after their first meeting. It was clear that Maggie loved Beverly deeply, once offering the following reflection, as per Hello! magazine: "When you meet again someone you should have married in the first place, it's like a script. That kind of luck is too good to be true."

And when Beverly sadly passed away in 1998, at the age of 66, Maggie was left utterly bereft. Discussing her bereavement in a 2014 interview with The Telegraph, she said: "They say it goes away but it doesn't. It just gets different. It's awful, but what do you do? After the busyness you are more alone, much more. A day that is absolutely crowded keeps your mind away from why you are alone but when it stops there is that deafening silence."

Offering some insight into Maggie's state of mind in her later years, film critic Michael Coveney, author of Maggie Smith: A Biography, previously shared that she'd found acting more 'draining' with age, and had told him: "Life, really, is terribly hard." Speaking with the Sunday People, Michael explained: “Maggie just doesn't see what's good about what she's doing most of the time."

The beloved actress passed away peacefully in hospital with her family by her side on the morning of Friday, September 29. Her family has said that they are 'devastated by her loss, and have given thanks to staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

In a statement issued via their publicist, they said: "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September.

"An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.

"We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time."

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