Details about Professor Stephen Hawking's personal life have resurfaced after a photograph emerged showing the renowned physicist on a sunbed with two women in bikinis. The image was released as part of millions of documents related to convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice. No date or location is specified, but many similar photos appear to have been taken on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.
Hawking, who died in 2018 aged 76, is known to have visited Epstein's island in March 2006 for a physics conference, before Epstein faced any charges. The Cambridge professor is referenced at least 250 times in the Epstein files, though being mentioned does not imply wrongdoing, and Hawking has never been accused of any crime.
Beyond his scientific achievements, Hawking's personal life was marked by two marriages. His first wife was Jane Hawking, a languages student he met at a party in 1962. They married in 1965 and had three children: Robert, Lucy, and Tim. The marriage ended in 1990 after 26 years, with Hawking leaving Jane for his nurse, Elaine Mason. He married Elaine in 1995, describing the 11-year marriage as 'passionate and tempestuous' before their split in 2006.
Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at age 22 and given only a few years to live, but he defied expectations, living to 76. His first wife Jane later spoke of the strain of caring for him, saying she was driven to the brink of suicide. In his memoir, Hawking wrote that Jane feared he would die soon and wanted someone to support her. Jane grew close to a friend, Jonathan Hellyer Jones, who moved in with the family with Hawking's blessing, though the physicist later became unhappy with the arrangement.
