Dame Maggie Smith ‘didn’t believe she was loved,’ reveals son

Dame Maggie Smith’s son Toby Stephens has revealed that his mother never allowed herself to believe that she was ‘loved and admired’.

The actress died aged 89 on September 27 after declining in health for a long while.

At the time her sons revealed that she passed ‘peacefully’ and was surrounded by family and friends at the very end of her life.

Despite being a British acting legend who worked for decades on beloved films and TV series including Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, Smith’s son has revealed that she never truly believed how well-regarded she was.

‘It’s been incredibly moving for my family to see how universally loved and admired she was.

‘That was something she never ­really ­allowed herself to believe. She was just like all of us, she didn’t have that self-confidence,’ Toby told The Telegraph.

Toby also revealed that his family believed she had ‘good innings’ after making it to nearly 90 years old, but she was still incredibly missed.

‘It’s been tough,’ he said. ‘She had been ill for a while and it was very hard to see that. But she was in her 90th year, she’d had a really good ­innings.’

He then added: ‘Purely on a selfish level, I miss having her in my life, being able to talk to her.’

The actress was buried in November in an intimate ceremony attended by family.

Toby and his brother Chris Larkin announced their mother’s death in a joint statement earlier this year: ‘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.’

Smith’s son Toby is best known for playing villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnan.

He played Mr Rochester in the BBC 2006 adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and James McGraw / Flint in Black Sails.

More recently the actor appeared on the Netflix series Lost In Space and One Day.

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