When the actor confessed to ingesting a few flakes of her mother\u2019s ashes on opening nights, reactions ranged from recognition to disgust. But, she says, grief makes animals of us all<\/p>\n
There have been headlines of late that make me out to be an ash-guzzling savage nightly devouring her mother\u2019s charred remains. \u201cRachael Stirling eats mother Diana Rigg\u2019s ashes before going on stage\u201d declared a dozen news outlets last month, while others referred to the \u201cstrange habit only she really understands\u201d and \u201cDame Diana\u2019s daughter admits eating her ashes in bizarre tribute\u201d. I\u2019ve written a book about our relationship, All About My Mother, in which I do confess to nibbling a grain or two, but I didn\u2019t expect to be portrayed as a matricidal cannibal by the press.<\/p>\n
My mother was Diana Rigg, an iconic actor with a 60-year career. Young \u2019uns will know her as the Queen of Thorns from Game of Thrones, be-wimpled spouter of the best verbal roasts on television: \u201cI\u2019ve known a great number of clever men. I\u2019ve outlived them all. You know how? I ignored them.\u201d Old \u2019uns, meanwhile, go dewy-eyed at the memory of her leather-catsuited telly triumph as Emma Peel in The Avengers from the 60s, the first woman to perform kung fu on western television. She was also the only woman ever to marry James Bond. She appeared in The Great Muppet Caper because I was profoundly in love with Miss Piggy, and her child-murdering Medea was the toast of Broadway. She won an Emmy and a Tony, and had countless honours bestowed upon her for her many stage performances. She was a complete original and very witty to boot.<\/p>\n
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