Kate Beckinsale has marked the one-year anniversary of her stepfather’s death with a candid and emotional post, detailing what it was like to watch him as well as her father die.
The actress shared a photo of her late stepfather, Roy Battersy, via her Instagram account on Friday, January 10. In the image, Roy is seen wearing a novelty shirt that reads, “World’s best farter. I mean father” and is smiling while holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Finding my father‘s dead body alone in the middle of the night at the age of five shaped my entire life. Seeing my beloved stepfather die a year ago today will haunt me forever,” Beckinsale, 51, wrote in the lengthy tribute. “It does seem terribly careless to have managed to be present for both deaths and unable to prevent either, the second time trying with every single thing I had. It was not enough.”
The Canary Black actress reflected on her grief and sense of loss surrounding Battersy’s death, who passed away in Los Angeles in January 2024 following “a brief illness.”
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“In the process of losing my beloved Roy I lost family, friendships , at some points my own health, and all the money I had due to how disgusting the American healthcare system is for those who are not insured. I would do it again. No question.I cannot help feeling that I dreadfully failed,” she wrote
Beckinsale went on to explain that she is leaning on what she can to “console” herself, telling herself that Battersy was prepared for the end of his life and was “at peace with it.”
“It does feel like a lie I am telling myself to try and feel better, however. Perhaps I am just unfortunately not enlightened enough to sell that to myself over my sense of loss, guilt and failure,” she admitted.
The one-year anniversary of Battersy’s death was a difficult pill to swallow, according to Beckinsale.
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“It is a tough day to talk about our fledgling and precious tragedy,but given that I couldn’t save him, I’ll be damned if I’m not going to honour him in some small way,” she continued. “He taught me how to be brave. He taught me that it doesn’t matter if people don’t like you as long as you’re doing the right thing, he lost everything fighting for justice for the trade unions, for the Palestinians in the ‘70s,living with them in refugee camps in Lebanon for several years making his 1977 documentary “The Palestinian”, fighting for the miners losing everything in the strikes.”
She concluded, “I am so lucky that I was raised by someone who uncompromisingly knew what was right and lived it. And loved me .Thank you for being my father. I miss you so much.”
