Dame Esther Rantzen was married to Desmond Wilcox for 32 years before he sadly passed away 25 years ago.
Dame Esther Rantzen has shared her final wish would be to meet her late husband Desmond Wilcox again, whom she was happily married to for 32 years. Desmond sadly died from a heart attack in 2000, aged 69, and Dame Esther has regularly spoken out about how much she misses him.
The Childline founder, who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, even claimed at one point she would have given up 10 years of her life if it meant she could spend 10 more minutes with Desmond.
Now 25 years on from his passing, Dame Esther is looking ahead to her own death. In a recent interview, she poignantly expressed a hope for what comes next, reports the Mirror, as well as her ever lasting love for her late husband.
The couple were happily married for 32 years.(Image: TV Times via Getty Images)
In an interview with The Times, Dame Esther – who is an assisted-dying campaigner – bravely spoke about the “extremely limited” future she now has, while also remarking that any chance to the UK’s assisted-dying legislation “could not possibly come in time” for her.
She also spoke about her long-lasting love for Desmond and wonders if there is an afterlife where they could be reunited at last
Dame Esther said: “If there is a heaven, it would be a very happy place. It’s a lovely idea to meet Desmond again and all those I have loved and lost — my parents and grandparents, my close friends and family.”
The broadcaster fell in love with Desmond, who was a documentary maker, in 1968. At the time he was still married to his first wife Patsy Price, who happened to also be Dame Esther’s BBC colleague and best friend.
Their affair sent shockwaves through the BBC, and as a result, Desond was forced to resign from his role as head of the general features department.
Dame Esther was diagnosed with cancer in January 2023.(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Last year, Dame Esther opened up about how the beginning of her romance with Desmond had “always” bothered her. On the Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth podcast, she said: “Always. I’m extremely sad that was the situation and we tried to break up quite often. It was not good news.”
At the beginning Patsy, who had three children with Desmond, contested the divorce, but she ended up relenting after learning that Dame Esther was pregnant. The couple went on to get married in December 1977 and welcomed three of their own children into the world – Emily, now known as Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua.
Dame Esther recalls the years she spent with Desmond to be the happiest of her life. She said: “I had 32 of the best years of my life with him. He radiated warmth and light into our lives, and for the moment, we fear that we have lost the sunshine we depended on.”
In a 2013 interview with Piers Morgan, she shared: “Desmond’s last words to me were, ‘I adore you’. I was sitting on his deathbed. I said to my son last night, ‘If God gave me the choice between ten more years of life and ten more minutes with Desi, I would pick those ten minutes.’.”
Sadly, during the Christmas season in 2022, Dame Esther found a lump in her armpit, and a couple weeks later in January 2023, a biopsy confirmed she had cancer. A few months later, in May 2023, Dame Esther announced she had stage four cancer and had been given medicine to help ease her symptoms and keep her comfortable.
Unfortunately, her daughter Rebecca revealed last month her mum’s medication was no longer working and she was no longer responding to it.
Since announcing her diagnosis, Dame Esther has spoken out about her decision to sign up for Dignitas, which is an assisted-dying clinic in Switzerland. This was done in a bid to have more control over the end of her life if things became “unbearable”.
With the legislation currently being discussed in parliament, Dame Esther said: “I always knew that any change in the assisted dying law could not possibly come in time for me. So the delay — the law in England and Wales could be pushed back until at least 2029 — won’t affect me personally.
“I am extremely sorry for the sake of other terminally ill patients who will be denied the right to choose. The sooner it is put in place, the more patients will be given that right, and the more vulnerable people will be protected from pressure or coercion. At the moment, the law does not protect them at all.”
