Sophie Cookson has announced the death of her beloved mother Marie, just two weeks after revealing she was receiving end of life care.
The Kingsman star, 35, shared an emotional post on Instagram on Wednesday alongside several photos, including one showing her holding her mother’s hand in hospital, and another from her childhood, beaming as she sat on her mother’s shoulders.
In a moving caption, Sophie wrote: ‘Madge. Sweet Madge. She died last week and we were together til the end. Sorry if I haven’t or don’t return your calls, but all the love and good wishes we received were (and are) so generous and comforting.
‘She didn’t want her death to be private. She wanted people to know that ‘It’s ok’, and that the final physical chapter doesn’t have to be scary.
‘The ripples of her generosity, kindness and serenity continue and I hope in some way to open up the conversation around death and grief. We have to create an open, honest space to talk about this colossal inevitability and support each other.
‘More of that later, but in the meantime… Love you Mum, I’m so lucky you were mine.’
Sophie Cookson has announced the death of her beloved mother Marie, just two weeks after revealing she was receiving end of life care
The Kingsman star, 35, shared an emotional post on Instagram on Wednesday alongside several photos, including one showing her holding her mother’s hand in hospital
The heartfelt post prompted an outpouring of support from friends and famous faces. Hollywood star Naomi Watts – Sophie’s co-star in the TV series Gypsy – wrote: ‘Oh I’m so so sorry. Sending you so much love,’ while fellow actress Jazzy de Lisser commented: ‘Sending you so much love.’
Sophie’s update comes a fortnight after she revealed her mother was receiving end-of-life care in hospital, describing the experience of sitting by her bedside as ‘maddening, scary and jarringly beautiful’.
At the time, Sophie asked her followers to reach out if they were going through something similar, explaining: ‘Maybe through sharing stories, this inevitable part of life can feel less daunting? I can’t promise to get back to you, but I promise I will read them. No one needs to feel alone.’
The Sussex-born star, who shot to fame opposite Taron Egerton and Colin Firth in the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service, has been documenting precious moments with her family in recent months.
Earlier this summer she shared photographs of Marie enjoying time in Europe with her, her partner, the actor Stephen Campbell Moore, and their five-year-old daughter.
In one post from August, Sophie captured her mother gazing out at a hilly landscape in a striking red blouse, writing: ‘Summer is fading and the melancholia of late August is ripe, but there is so much to be grateful for. Make sure the people you love know it and don’t sweat the small stuff. At the end it’s irrelevant.’
Another photograph showed Marie smiling at a flower market, holding bunches of eucalyptus and purple blooms. Sophie captioned it simply: ‘Kiss & Fly.’
Sophie, who has also starred in The Trial of Christine Keeler, Greed, and Netflix drama The Confessions of Frannie Langton, met her partner Stephen, 45, on the set of the spy thriller Red Joan in 2017 and started dating the following year.
Sophie also shared a photo from her childhood as she sat on her mother’s shoulders
In a moving caption, Sophie wrote: ‘Madge. Sweet Madge. She died last week and we were together til the end’
Sophie added: ‘She didn’t want her death to be private. She wanted people to know that ‘It’s ok’, and that the final physical chapter doesn’t have to be scary’
Stephen was previously married to The Crown star Claire Foy, 41, with whom he has a ten-year-old daughter.
Sophie broke her year-long silence on social media earlier this year to reveal she had undergone what she called a ‘radical reset’, giving up alcohol and training to become a yoga instructor.
She said at the time that the practice had given her ‘transformative wisdom and unbound kindness’ and described yoga as ‘the most surprising, generous gift both as a practitioner and generally overwhelmed human’.
