Cilla Black’s son sleeps where she died in order to feel close to her.
The 72-year-old TV presenter tragically passed away in August 2015 after suffering a fall in her room at her home in Spain and son Robert, 48, who found her, says he now uses the bedroom as his own in order to be near her.
He told the Sunday People: "I use her room now. I still refer to it as Mum’s Room but she wouldn’t have wanted it to be a room we couldn’t go into, a shrine. Because she died there it is even more special, I suppose."
Robert and his brothers Jack, 38, and Ben, 44, still use the villa for holidays and have kept it exactly as it was when their mother was alive.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Robert revealed Cilla’s "darkest fear" was not being able to enjoy a good quality of life.
While the ‘Blind Date’ host felt incredibly young at heart, when she started to battle with various ailments, such as arthritis and loss of hearing, the thought of compromising certain aspects of her life and becoming a "shadow of her former self" weighed heavily on her mind.
Robert said: "She wanted to go on doing what she wanted to do. She’d never had to diet, so she was suddenly having to do certain things just to maintain the way she lived. She was a bit offended by that. She was someone who lived life fully – the amount of shows she did was incredible – but she wasn’t used to compromise.
"She was in a great deal of pain after developing arthritis in her right hand, which meant she had to have a bone removed below her thumb and forefinger. It affected her ability to grip and although the operation would do the trick, she resented the nine months it would take to heal.
"In her heart and in her head, she was incredibly young so I think she found it all difficult.
"Then it was discovered she had a form of arthritis in one knee. She managed to avoid a knee replacement by the use of medication, but she had stoically put up with it for too long which resulted in quite a bit of muscle wastage. In truth, she wasn’t the best patient.
"Her mother suffered from osteoporosis and in old age, slowly became a shadow of her former self. That was my mum’s darkest fear, that the same thing would happen to her. She was getting a bit worn down by ill-health, even though she still had that incredible poise and dignity."
Cilla Black’s son sleeps where she died to be close to her
