Downton Abbey star Penelope Wilton has previously opened up her family life, and how she reacted to her ex-husband, the late actor Daniel Massey, tying the knot with her sister, Linda Wilton.
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Speaking to the Evening Standard the years before her Downton Abbey debut in 2010, Penelope admitted that it was “odd to begin with”.
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She said: “It would seem odd to people outside one's circle, I know. But there were all these girls and it seemed natural that he should be with Alice [their daughter] and the cousins who were all the same age. It was odd to begin with but I got used to it.”
Penelope added that it didn’t affect her relationship with her sister, adding: “No. No it didn't. I mean, it wasn't all easy. You'd be a complete idiot if you thought that. It was quite tricky sometimes.” The star’s daughter, Alice, was also unfazed by the situation.
Penelope was married to actor Daniel Massey
"Actually no, at least not according to her,” Penelope explained. “She had always gone to my sister's to see the children and now her dad was there too. More tricky for me, I think, at one point. Usually when you divorce your husband, they move further away… Having said that, in the end it was perfectly fine when everyone got used to the idea.”
Penelope with her daughter Alice
Daniel, who passed away in 1998, previously opened up about the situation, saying that Penelope dealt with the situation “with great grace and style”.
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Penelope then tied the knot with The Lord of the Rings actor Ian Holm, who she wed in 1991. The pair called it quits in 2001 after ten years of marriage, and Ian sadly passed away in June 2020, aged 88. His agent released a statement to The Guardian at the time which read: “He died peacefully in hospital, with his family and carer.”
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