The Respectable Facade That Hid Dark Secrets
For more than five decades, Sir Clement Freud and his wife Jill presented the perfect image of middle-class respectability to British society. The couple appeared to radiate benign pleasure at their family's achievements while maintaining a wholesome public persona that charmed the nation.
However, this carefully constructed image proved to be profoundly deceptive. Their marriage of nearly 60 years concealed disturbing secrets that would only emerge after Sir Clement's death, revealing both partners engaged in relationships that shattered their respectable facade.
The Shocking Revelations That Destroyed a Legacy
Seven years after his death in 2009, Sir Clement Freud - once one of Britain's most popular broadcasters and public figures - was exposed as a serial sexual predator and paedophile. The investigations revealed he had fathered a secret child with his family's teenage nanny when she was just 17 years old.
Meanwhile, Lady Freud had her own hidden past. In 2001, it emerged she had conducted a long-term affair with a teenage boy during the 1970s. Jill was 47 years old when the relationship began, while her lover Jonathan Self was only 16 - the elder brother of novelist Will Self.
The details emerged in Self's memoir 'Self Abuse', where he described his unhappy childhood and the affair with the woman he called 'June' - which literary circles quickly identified as Lady Freud's real name, June Flewett.
A Marriage of Convenience and Concealment
When confronted with allegations about her husband's behaviour in a 2016 ITV documentary, Lady Freud offered no defence of his innocence. Instead, she issued a statement expressing profound sorrow for the women who came forward with accounts of being groomed and raped by her late husband.
'This is a very sad day for me,' she stated. 'I was married to Clement for 58 years and loved him dearly. I am shocked, deeply saddened and profoundly sorry for what has happened to these women.'
Jonathan Self described the Freuds' arrangement as an 'open marriage', noting that Clement Freud was fully aware of his wife's relationship with the teenage boy. Self recalled that Freud treated him 'as a member of their family', offering support, advice and even financial assistance.
The revelations painted a starkly different picture of Freud from his public image as the dry-witted raconteur beloved by Radio 4's Just A Minute audiences. A cousin of one victim described how hearing his voice in later years 'made her flesh creep' knowing what he had done.
Early Life and Literary Connections
Jill Freud, born June Flewett in London in 1927, had a fascinating background that included a footnote in children's literature history. She served as the model for Lucy in CS Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the subsequent Narnia chronicles.
During World War II, she was evacuated to Oxford and later became a domestic helper at CS Lewis's home, The Kilns. She developed a 'tremendous crush' on the writer, who eventually paid her fees to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after she repeatedly deferred her place.
Lewis described her as 'without exception, the most selfless person I have ever known' - a stark contrast to the woman who would later engage in a relationship with a schoolboy.
The Extent of Clement Freud's Abuse
The details of Sir Clement's predatory behaviour emerged as truly shocking. He met 11-year-old Sylvia Woosley and her mother in France in 1948. Four years later, back in London, Freud became the girl's unofficial guardian after her mother's marriage broke down.
Sylvia described joining the couple for breakfast in their bed when she was 14. While Jill went to fetch breakfast items, she told Sylvia to remain in bed. 'I knew what was going to happen,' Sylvia later recounted, describing how Freud pulled up her nightdress and assaulted her.
Three months after these claims surfaced, another family secret emerged: Freud had impregnated their 17-year-old nanny, Barbara, in 1957. She was sent to a home for unmarried mothers, and the baby girl was put up for adoption.
Later Years and Lasting Legacy
Jill Freud returned to acting in later years, appearing as the Downing Street housekeeper in Love Actually, directed by her future son-in-law Richard Curtis. She attributed her long life to keeping busy and eating the same lunch every day: a glass of red wine and a packet of crisps.
Her daughter Emma Freud shared that her mother's final evening was spent 'surrounded by children, grandchildren and pizza' before she 'eventually told us all to f*** off so she could go to sleep'.
The couple's five children included Matthew Freud, the PR guru, and television presenter Emma Freud. Jill once observed that her children were lucky because 'they haven't just got the highly sensitive, neurotic, hugely intelligent Freud genes, they've also got mine. I am pretty stable emotionally, you could say boring.'
Publication of Jonathan Self's autobiography in 2001 suggested anything but boredom in the Freud household. The revelations about both partners' behaviour created a complex legacy that continues to overshadow their public achievements.
