PA
Former Oxo mum and Loose Women star Lynda Bellingham has revealed she was only told her mum had died AFTER her funeral had been held.
Lynda said a friend of her mum's emailed her to break the heartbreaking news that not only had 94-year-old Marjorie Bond passed away, but that her funeral had already happened. The friend added that she had 'not been allowed' to tell Lynda in time for her to attend the service.
Marjorie had put Lynda up for adoption when she had her as a single mum, but mother and daughter were reunited 25 years ago.
Lynda, who has two children Michael and Robbie, said getting the email was 'absolutely devastating' and left her 'grief-stricken'.
"I have spent the last 25 years befriending my mum and her sisters and feeling responsible for them in a way that I certainly didn't have to," Lynda said, adding "What really hurt was this woman being given specific instructions not to tell me until after the funeral because she didn't want me there embarrassing everybody."
Lynda, 63, said it made her feel 'horrible' and as though she was 'being rejected all over again'. She said: "I find it very distressing. But there's absolutely nothing I can do about it."
Lynda was brought to Britain from Canada as a child after being adopted by Donald and Ruth Bellingham. When she became a mum herself at 35, she decided to try and find her natural birth mother.
She admits she could never quite forgive Marjorie for giving her away, and knew she was put up for adoption because her mother had been 'ashamed'.
"It was a massive shame at the time. Mum had three sisters – one was married and had a child and the other sister never married. "
She says: "I discussed it with my mother when I was 40 to try to get her head around the horror of what she had done. I used to ring her once a month... but it was all very awkward."
Such a sad way for a mother and daughter relationship to end.