[caption id="attachment_75246" align="alignright" width="300"] CELIA IMRIE -[/caption]
ACTRESS Celia Imrie has launched a spirited defence of “put-upon” grandparents who are exhausting themselves to help their families, condemning “revolting” offspring who demand babysitting and talk about their inheritance.
Imrie, star of Calendar Girls and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, said she was shocked by the demands placed on her retired friends, with an increasing pressure on the older generation to pick up childcare.
The actress, 62, said she had been left upset by witnessing exhausted friends who felt obliged to help their adult children.
She said she could not believe her ears at some of the conversations she had been party to, including – increasingly – discussions about future inheritance.
Condemning the trend as absolutely revolting she said: “In my day you never, ever talked about your inheritance.”
Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, Imrie told an audience her debut novel, Not Quite Nice, starred one such under-appreciated grandmother who gave up her free time to babysit for her ungrateful daughter.
“I find it shocking that you hear people say ‘why are you going on a cruise? I thought you were going to pay for my child’s education’.”
– The Telegraph