Prue Leith is over the moon after her daughter adopted a baby boy.

Prue Leith

Prue Leith

The 79-year-old 'Great British Bake Off' star adopted her daughter Li-Da from a Cambodian orphanage when she was just 16 months old and she is thrilled that Li-Da followed in her footsteps and adopted her own child seven months ago.

Prue told the Daily Mirror: "Every parent feels proud when they see their children's achievements. Maybe even more when they're adopted because as well as pride, there was something extra: wonder.

"Wonder at seeing her attributes that weren't from me or my husband.

"Li-Da has enhanced our life in so many ways. Now she has adopted a child because she felt her own adoption was so successful and that's just another way she makes me feel proud."

Prue and her late husband Rayne - who passed away in 2002 - already had one-year-old son Daniel when she decided she wanted another child and Rayne suggested adoption.

She explained: "I was desperate for another and Rayne said there were enough children in the world who needed families, so suggested we adopt. A friend told us she'd heard of a baby perhaps we could have."

Li-Da was rescued by an American pilot in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after her mother died in a rocket attack and her father disappeared.

However, Prue admitted she was worried she would not love the child as much as Daniel.

She said: "Before I met Li-Da, I tormented myself with the thought I could never love anyone as much as Daniel. But as soon as I met her, those thoughts vanished."

Meanwhile, Prue previously revealed it took Li-Da and her husband Matt four years to adopt their son, while Prue found it much easier when she wanted to take Li-Da home.

She said: "I am so fascinated by adoption because my daughter is adopted and she is Cambodian.

"When I adopted her, which was 44 years ago, it was comparatively easy, they checked us out in five seconds.

"Li-Da has been four years trying to adopt, and now finally she has got a baby."


Tagged in