Sir Michael Palin admits he'll 'die soon' but isn't 'worried' about life ending
The celebrated Monty Python comedian Sir Michael Palin has shared his candid views on mortality, stating that he doesn't "worry about death too much" as it's inevitable. As he reflects on reaching his 80s, Sir Michael notes that many don't make it to that age and thus carries no substantial fears regarding passing away: "I'm in my eighties and lots of people don't make it there. So I don't have any great worries about death. I mean, it's going to happen sometime soon."
Speaking to The Times ahead of the release of his upcoming book of diaries titled 'There and Back', the TV travel host expresses how his diverse interests keep thoughts of mortality at bay: "I hear people say Euston station works are going to be finished in 2033 and think, 'Oh, I won't be around then.' But I've got so many interests - either books I'm researching or future travel series - which make me forget about mortality."
Despite losing his wife not long ago and still keeping her clothes hanging in their home, the heartfelt reason being he prefers to live as if she's "still here", Sir Michael confesses some struggles with remaining in their beloved London house. Yet, this does not detract from his appreciation of what he describes as the "sort of undramatic steadiness" that defined their long marriage.
He expressed: "It's very odd, not having her here. But that's not just about travel. It's about coming back from a night at the theatre or dinner and the first thing I want is to tell Helen, 'That was crap,' or, 'That was wonderful.' I still feel quite bereft, because it's the little things. The people we knew over such a long period whom I can't talk about now to her. I still find that very difficult. But there we are .."
Despite the significant loss, Palin appears unlikely to seek new companionship. He admits to being no master chef and instead often eats with his children and friends, reports the Mirror.
Further, he noted: "I shared my life with someone for so long that I find it impossible to think of sharing it in the same way with anyone else again. So in a way, I'm sort of freer."
Palin first encountered his beloved wife while vacationing in Southwold, Suffolk; this meeting later inspired a BBC TV drama 'East Of Ipswich' in 1987.
Together the couple had three offspring and were proud grandparents four times over, commemorating their marriage milestone only weeks before Helens passing in May 2023.
During an interview in October last year, Palin revealed his struggle with imbalance and directionlessness post-loss, describing feeling "lopsided" and lacking a "rudder". His wifes death came after a battle with enduring pain and kidney issues.
Back then, he reflected: "We were together for a very long time. We were married for 57 years and I met her before that so more than two thirds of my life was spent with her. And so you form a kind of unit."
"You don't realise that until someone's gone and then it's slightly lopsided, like something tips over, and your rudder goes."
"You end up thinking it was just me but I need my partner there to sort of keep me on the straight and narrow."
"It's not the great things that you've said, very often a lot of things that are unsaid because if you know somebody really, really well, you don't have to sort of analyse everything or say everything, you just know the way they will feel. So I had to get adjusted to that."