Model and actress Liz Hurley gave birth to a baby boy, Damian Charles, on Thursday afternoon at 12.22pm. Saying that the Austin Powers star was “delighted”, a spokesperson added: “Both mother and baby are happy and healthy.”
Many had anticipated the new arrival would be a boy as thousands of pounds' worth of nursery furniture and baby outfits had been delivered to Liz’s London home just days ago – all in the tell-tale hue of blue.
“I'm going to be awful,” she said of her pending motherhood in a recent interview. “I want a mummy's boy who sits on my knee all day and tells me he loves me.”
Throughout her pregnancy, single mother Liz has turned to her close friend and former flame Hugh Grant for support. The Bridget Jones’s Diary star, who was with Ms Hurley for 13 years until their split in May, 2000, has been photographed with her on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months. He has, however, denied rumours he would be Damian’s godfather.
Despite the happy news of the birth, the pregnancy hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The man Liz says is Damian’s dad, multi-millionaire Steve Bing, issued a statement which questioned his paternity soon after she announced her baby joy last November. The former Estée Lauder spokesmodel responded soon afterward, saying she was “deeply distraught” that Steve suggested he might not be the father. Relations between the two are since said to have deteriorated and they now only communicate through lawyers.
After Damian's birth on Thursday, Steven, 35, spoke to reporters outside his Los Angeles home, but kept his statement short. Said the 35-year-old businessman: "I really have no comment to make on the baby, or the name of the baby. I really have nothing to say."
Liz, however, seemed to be able to put the issue aside enough to thoroughly enjoy her nine months as a mother-to-be. In February, she wrote an article for Elle magazine, saying she was thrilled with pregnancy – and her newly curvy figure. “I’m as buxom and curvaceous as a Thomas Hardy wench,” she said, adding, “For someone who has been relatively careful about eating for years it feels almost surreal to be tucking into crumpets for tea again.”
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Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
