A tearful Dame Mary Berry paid a heartfelt tribute to he late son William as she was honoured with British Academy Television Awards’s highest accolade at Sunday’s ceremony.
The TV icon, 91, delivered a heartfelt speech as she was award the BAFTA Fellowship honouring her career which has spanned six decades.
Mary thanked beloved husband Paul, 94, who was watching at home, children Annabel, 56, Thomas, 58, as well as William, who tragically died in a car crash in 1989 aged 19.
She said: ‘I’m a teacher so I feel very honoured to be given BAFTAs highest award. It seems no time at all that I left Bath High School with just two O levels in needlework and cookery.’
‘Bake Off came along and my whole world changed. It was about those jackets and I could tuck a hot water bottle underneath because the tent was so cold in the morning first thing. I see myself as a teacher and television is the biggest classroom there is.
She then thanked her husband and children, adding: ‘William is in heaven but I thank him.’
Dame Mary Berry paid a heartfelt tribute to he late son William as she was honoured with British Academy Television Awards’s highest accolade at Sunday’s ceremony
Mary thanked beloved husband Paul, 94, who was watching at home, children Annabel (R) Thomas (L) , as well as William (C) who tragically died in a car crash in 1989 aged 19
William tragically died in a car accident while visiting home from Bristol University.
Mary later went on to say: ‘On Bake Off we won an award and I won an award for Best Judge but this is something quite different’.
‘It is the most amazing award, such an honour. You just wish your parents were still alive and you can call them up and say “Guess what mum”‘.
Mary was the second of three children, born to parents Margaret and Alleyne. Her father died in 1989, but her mother lived til 2011. She was 105 when she died.
She previously spoke about her late son William’s car accident on the Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth podcast, revealing her daughter Annabel was also in the car.
Recalling the tragic day, she said: ‘He asked if he could borrow a sports car, which he was insured for, and I said “You ask your dad”.
‘Anyway, he took his sister with him, and he just drove too fast, which was so unlike him.’
‘William was the one that you could rely on. When the phone rang after he was killed, everybody said “I’m so sorry to hear about Thomas, because Thomas was our wild one”. I knew when the policemen came through the door. I remember saying to him “It must be an awful thing for you to tell us all”.’
‘It was a huge sadness but there was a bonus because Annabel – we had to go down to Wycombe hospital – they didn’t tell us then because the policemen didn’t know, so we went down.’
The TV icon, 91, delivered a heartfelt speech as she was award the BAFTA Fellowship honouring her career which has spanned six decades
She also paid tribute to husband Paul, 94, children Annabel, 56, Thomas, 58, and the late William (pictured with her three children; William, Annabel and Thomas)
She went on to say: ‘You just wish your parents were still alive and you can call them up and say “Guess what mum’ (pictured with mum Margery and brother Roger in 1938)
‘And I can remember being in the corridor and I suddenly saw Annabel, in a pink tracksuit, running up towards me, and I thought “I’ve still got her”.’
Elsewhere in the evening Adolescence star Owen Cooper continued his award-winning streak.
The actor, 16, who has made history by becoming the youngest winner of the Best Supporting Actor award at both the Golden Globes and the Emmy Awards, took home the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.
Meanwhile, his onscreen mum Christine Tremarco won Best Supporting Actress in a surprise result beating co-star Erin Doherty, who previously took home the Golden Globe and Emmy Award.
Nominations were announced in March with Stephen Graham leading the way with a total of 11 nominations for the drama as well as seven for his Disney+ series, A Thousand Blows – for which he is an executive producer.
Adolescence, which was created by actor Stephen, 52, and writer Jack Thorne, tells the story of British teenager Jamie Miller, who is found guilty of murdering a female classmate after being sucked in by the manosphere online.
Each episode is filmed in one continuous shot and has been widely praised for addressing topics such as online radicalisation and misogyny.
‘Erin [Doherty] was the first person that I ever worked with so it was a dream to film. It was hard to do, I’m not doing to stand here and say it was easy, it was hard to do that in front of a stranger I have never met but Erin and the crew were so kind.’
Producer Mark Herbert of Warp films said: ‘Big thanks to Stephen Graham for bringing this gang together. The script ripped our hearts and it punched us in the guts’. He also thanked Netflix boss Anne Mensah who had picked up the project after Amazon Prime Video had passed on it.’
Amandaland starring Lucy Punch won the BAFTA for scripted comedy. The show follows the demise of Motherland’s snooty Queen Bee, who has moved from a lavish life in well-to-do Chiswick to becoming a single mother in the less-than-desirable South Harlesden – which she christens ‘SoHa’.
