Personal Life
The Carandinis, Lee's maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon in Rome next to the painter Raphael. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in Windsor Castle".
Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels and a distant relative of Robert E. Lee and the astronomer John Lee.
He has been married to former Danish model Birgit "Gitte" Lee since 1961. They have a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee, who married Juan Francisco Aneiros Rodriguez in July 2001. Lee is also the uncle of the British actress Dame Harriet Walter.
Contrary to popular belief, Lee does not have a vast library of occult books. When giving a speech at the University College Dublin on 8 November 2011 he said: "Somebody wrote I have 20,000 books. I'd have to live in a bath! I have maybe four or five."
Lee is a supporter of the British Conservative Party, and described Michael Howard as "the ideal person to lead the party" in 2003.
Read more about this topic: Christopher Lee
Famous quotes containing the words personal life, personal and/or life:
“A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries.”
—Thomas Mann (18751955)
“Childrens lives are not shaped solely by their families or immediate surroundings at large. That is why we must avoid the false dichotomy that says only government or only family is responsible. . . . Personal values and national policies must both play a role.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (20th century)
“Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it ... its just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come, a word can be spoken, and both you and all this splendor will collapse.”
—Henrik Ibsen (18281906)