Kate Beckinsale Poses for Tearful Selfie in Hospital Bed: ‘Send Balloons’
Kate Beckinsale has hit yet another bump in the road.
The British actress, 50, took to Instagram on Monday, March 11, to share a series of snaps — including a tearful selfie taken from a hospital bed — in celebration of UK Mother’s Day and mom Judy Loe’s birthday.
Beckinsale, who did not reveal the nature of her illness, lost her stepfather, Roy Battersby, to a stroke in January. Still, she rose to the occasion, writing, “Mother's Day this last week to my incredible mother.”
In one photo, her mom, 77, smiled in front of a lit birthday cake; in two others, the Underworld star's dogs stood nose to nose with each other on hospital beds.
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“Thank you to those that love us and support us when it's s— and try to make sure there are some bits that aren't,” the post continued. “And for looking after our dogs when we can't, and lead us to remember happy things when we can't. And turn up when we are sick and sit with us . . And send balloons and check in and pull us out of wells with love.”
“Thank you for loving us,” she added, “and especially for my mother's capacity for joy. It is so inspiring and beautiful Happy everything mama. Your fight for joy despite also welcoming tears is the experience of watching a warrior up close. I love you x” (The actress is also a mom herself to Lily Mo Sheen, her 25-year-old daughter with ex Michael Sheen.)
Beckinsale also shared a text exchange between her and Loe, who posed for a selfie in front of several cards.
“I am thrilled out of my brains,” Loe wrote in her text. “Oh Kate Kate, what fabulous pressies, thank you so utterly much.”
Beckinsale responded by saying, “God I’m so relieved I was a little impaired.”
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In a clip, Loe poured wine into a glass saying, “Wow, Katie B, thank you so much.” Off camera, Beckinsale can be heard responding with “Cheers! Happy birthday!”
The occasion was a nice break for the actress, who went head to head with BAFTA about mentioning her late stepfather during the awards show in January. (Loe was married to her father, Richard Beckinsale, from 1977 to 1979 before moving on to Battersby in 1997.)
“Today BAFTA told me they ‘could not guarantee’ he would be included in their ‘in memoriam’ tribute, to honor the industry members we have lost,” she wrote via Instagram at the time, alongside a throwback photo of her and Battersby at the 1996 BAFTA Awards. “So a man dead less than a week somehow has to audition in front of a committee after a decades long career (in which he has been awarded from said organization the highest accolade they have) to decide IF his death is worth mentioning.”
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She continued: “If his work, his life, his craft, his mentoring, his heart and soul are worthy of a mention that he is gone. That, that has broken my heart all over again. I am paralyzed, sick and sickened and I will honor him and his work every day of my life.”
On January 10, Kate announced that her stepfather died at age 87.
“It is with great sorrow that the family of film and television director Roy Battersby announce the news of his recent death after a brief period of illness,” she wrote in a statement shared via her Instagram Story. “He passed away peacefully on 10 January 2024, in Los Angeles surrounded by family, aged 87. Funeral will be held in London, details to follow.”