SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Portrait of the love she lost? Anna Friel shares old picture with former partner on daughter's birthday

By Sebastian Shakespeare for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:27 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 01:54 EST, 10 July 2015

Unlucky-in-love Anna Friel revealed her sentimental side yesterday when she reflected on her past with former partner David Thewlis, the film star she dated for ten years before they split in 2009.

Friel, star of the U.S. TV drama Odyssey, turns 39 this Sunday as a single woman and shared this photo on Instagram of her and David, 52, with their daughter Gracie — then newborn — who turned ten yesterday.

‘Happy happy birthday to our girl Gracie,’ writes Anna. ‘We are so proud of you and love you more than you could ever know. Always and forever, your Mama and papa.’

Scroll down for video 

Anna Friel shared this picture on Instagram of her and former partner David Thewlis, 52, with their daughter Gracie - then newborn

Anna Friel shared this picture on Instagram of her and former partner David Thewlis, 52, with their daughter Gracie - then newborn

Gracie (pictured more recently with her mother) turned 10 yesterday and her parents, who dated for a decade, split in 2009

Gracie (pictured more recently with her mother) turned 10 yesterday and her parents, who dated for a decade, split in 2009

While they were dating, David ruled out marriage with Anna, saying: ‘It’s more important to have a baby. Marriage doesn’t make any difference to the commitment.’

They split a year later, after which Anna had an unlikely three-year romance with Welsh actor Rhys Ifans which ended in 2014.

 

She has only been living with her boyfriend for a year but already Strictly Come Dancing star Pixie Lott is getting itchy feet. The pop star, 24, is hunting for a bigger home in London with her Dolce & Gabbana model beau, Oliver Cheshire. ‘We’re living in Aldgate but need a bit of a change,’ Oliver, 27, tells me at a party in Shoreditch House. ‘I’ve been flat-hunting in Battersea Park. I’m not going completely West London, there’s still going be a south in it — an SW postcode. I’m the woman in the relationship. I do all the cleaning and the cooking at home. Pixie’s a terrible cook.’

 

Wright hits the roof

Matthew Wright is involved in a dispute with his neighbour's who are planning to build a roof extension near his North London home

Matthew Wright is involved in a dispute with his neighbour's who are planning to build a roof extension near his North London home

TV presenter Matthew Wright is involved in the sort of local dispute we’re used to hearing on his morning chatshow.

Wright, whose Channel 5 show The Wright Stuff airs the public’s everyday moans and groans, is unhappy with a neighbour’s plans to build a roof extension near his North London home.

In a note to Camden officials, he not only claims that his home already suffers from poor natural light — he keeps an AstroTurf lawn as a result — but says he also has to endure curtain-twitchers ogling his wife Amelia.

‘Having already had to deal with people staring down at my wife when she’s sitting in the garden from a roof extension nearby is a particularly uncomfortable and unpleasant experience,’ he writes.

‘I therefore urge Camden to think long and hard before giving the green light to a development that might lead to others doing the same.’

 

Queen 'at risk from hotel sniper'

The Government’s decision to sell two of its Central London buildings has put the Queen in danger, according to former Labour Home Secretary Lord Reid.

The two buildings — Admiralty Arch and the old War Office — are on the route of state processions and are to be turned into swanky hotels.

Peers, including Reid, tore into the plan yesterday in the Lords and left little doubt that the life of the Queen could be put at risk from terrorist snipers.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire, a Lib Dem, pointed out that the two planned hotels stand next to the route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster — which is taken by horse-drawn royal coaches at official occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament and some royal weddings. Would the hotels have to be closed for such occasions?

Reid added: ‘If the cost of reducing the deficit by a couple of hundred million pounds is to put our national security — not to mention the monarch — at risk, it is not a price worth paying.’

 

I can't bear to read Rod's memoirs, says Rachel

Rod Stewart’s entertaining autobiography was a best-seller when it was published three years ago, but his ex-wife Rachel Hunter still feels unable to turn the first page.

‘To tell you the truth, I didn’t even read Rod’s book,’ says Rachel, who divorced the 70-year-old crooner in 2006. ‘I couldn’t. It would upset me too much.’

Stewart claims in the memoir that Rachel — with whom he has two children, Liam and Renee — broke his heart. She insists their relationship is ‘amicable’ and says she’s still close to his family.

Rod has eight children by five mothers. ‘All of the kids are very much brothers and sisters,’ Rachel says. ‘There’s no half-this or half-that — they’re full siblings, and I’m close to all of Rod’s kids.’

Rachel is 24 years Rod’s junior and now insists wouldn’t date a much older man, saying: ‘Anything ten years either side is fine, although even that is stretching it a bit.’ 

Rod Stewart's ex-wife Rachel Hunter (left), who divorced him in 2006, said she still can't bear to read his book

Rod Stewart's ex-wife Rachel Hunter (left), who divorced him in 2006, said she still can't bear to read his book

Comments (77)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now