Kathy Kirby - Personal Life

Personal Life

Kirby met Ambrose in her teens and, despite the 42-year age gap and his having an estranged wife at the time, began a relationship with him which lasted until his death in 1971. In the 2009 interview, she said she had had an affair with Bruce Forsyth during this time.

Kirby was married briefly to writer and former London policeman Frederick Pye in the 1970s. Following her bankruptcy in 1975, and a court case following an arrest over an unpaid hotel bill, she was referred to St Luke's psychiatric hospital in London in 1979. Following her discharge, she had a live-in lesbian relationship with a fan, Laraine McKay, and said that they intended to marry. McKay was imprisoned for fraud and forgery. In the early 1980s, Kirby had relationships with musician David Cross and lawyer Alan Porter.

Kirby was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was in poor physical and mental health for much of her life. Following her retirement, she lived in a series of apartments and hotels in West London, settling in an apartment in Emperor's Gate, South Kensington, surviving on state benefits and some royalties, and maintaining what has been called a "Garbo-esque" seclusion. Very shortly before her death, Kirby moved to Brinsworth House in Twickenham, at the insistence of her niece, Lady Sarah Thatcher, who is married to Mark Thatcher. Another niece, Claudia, became Lady Rothermere after marrying Viscount Rothermere.