When Hugh Grant decided to become a father, he really went all out, welcoming five children with two different women within the space of about seven years. Tinglan Hong gave birth to a boy and girl (Tabitha and Felix) and Hugh has one son and two daughters with his current wife/partner, Anna Eberstein. Anna is Swedish, although I do not know if she’s still a Swedish foreign national or if she has received British citizenship or some kind of residency. I guess my point is that if Hugh, Anna and their kids are all traveling together, it’s possible that Anna might be traveling under a Swedish or EU passport. In any case, Hugh blasted an unnamed immigration officer for asking some “invasive” questions:
Hugh Grant was left unimpressed by his latest airport experience. On Friday, April 4, the actor, 64, called out an immigration officer at London’s Heathrow Airport for allegedly acting “intrusive, insulting and creepy” during an encounter with his children.
Writing in a post on X, Grant claimed that immigration officers at the London airport asked his kids if he and his wife Anna Eberstein were their parents.
“Just came through Heathrow with wife and children,” Grant’s post read. “We all have the same last name (Grant) on our passports. Immigration officer engages my children in chit chat then whispers to them ‘Are these your Mum and Dad?’ . Intrusive, insulting and creepy.”
While Grant shares daughter Tabitha Xiao, 13, son Felix Chang, 11, with actress Tinglan Hong, he is also dad to son John Mungo, 12, and daughters Lulu Danger, 9, and Blue, 6, with Eberstein, 46.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport confirmed to PEOPLE that Border Force officers are employed by the Home Office and not the airport. PEOPLE has contacted the Home Office for comment.
“If you are travelling with a child (under 18) and are not the child’s parent, or may appear not to be the parent (for example, if you have a different family name), we may ask you a few questions to establish your relationship with the child,” a Border Force article on the U.K. government’s website reads. “We will always do this as quickly as possible and in a way which is sensitive to the interests of the child and the adult involved.”
My opinion: it can be both “creepy” and “a guy trying to do his job.” Like, I totally understand why Hugh was unsettled by an immigration officer speaking to his children in that way. But also… child trafficking exists, even if the passports and documents look above-board. Hugh doesn’t say that the kids were pulled into a security office and separated from him – this was just a double-check question by an immigration officer. Also: do you think the guy asked because Hugh is so old? He’s a 64 year old man (who looks his age, honestly) traveling with a twenty-years-younger woman and three young children. I’m just saying, I understand why the guy asked the question.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
