Ronnie Corbett’s widow says reading letters from her late husband made her feel as though he was still around.
Ronnie Corbett
Anne Corbett married Ronnie in May 1966 and they remained together until the comedian's death at the age of 85 in March 2016.
At the start of their romance the couple were separated for four months when Anne went to Australia to perform in a show and 18 months ago she discovered their love letters, which had a profound effect on her.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper, she said: “I sat here reading them, about four a day. I couldn’t read any more. He was here with me as I read them. He was absolutely here with me. It was very, very moving.”
Revealing the emotional content of the letters, Anne added: "It was ‘how much I miss you’, ‘I have never felt like this’, ‘I can’t wait for you to come back so we can do all these lovely things together’.
“‘Darling, at this moment I would just love to kiss you and hold you just for a moment ... Roll on June and July. You are my wanton woman.'"
Despite Ronnie - who was one half of iconic comedy duo The Two Ronnies with Ronnie Barker - penning so many love letters Anne suggests he struggled to express his emotions so she'd encourage him to use the term “Ambrosia Cream Rice” when “saying something nice”.
She shared: “He found it very difficult. I said, 'If you want to say something nice to me and you can’t, say Ambrosia Cream Rice, then I know you’re saying something nice.'"
Anne and the couple's two daughters, Emma and Sophie, have taken part in new documentary 'The Two Ronnies: Ronnie Corbett’s Lost Tapes' which shows home videos and lost footage of Ronnie.
Watching the documentary back proved to be an emotional experience for all of the family with Anne saying that seeing footage of her late husband left her and their girls in tears.
She said: “Seeing some of the films again all these years later, with the girls when they were little, and my lovely Ron swimming in the pool, well it was very emotional. We all cried.”
'The Two Ronnies: Ronnie Corbett’s Lost Tapes' airs on ITV on Thursday night (14.07.21) at 9pm.
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