Joseph Fiennes moved his family from the idyllic hills of Mallorca to London and within days his wife was mugged, their car snatched and their flat’s value plummeted.
The Handmaid’s Tale actor, 55, has reflected on how he and his Swiss-Spanish wife, model and artist Maria Dolores Diéguez, returned to London after a decade living in the Spanish sunshine, and the transition wasn’t exactly smooth.
Having returned to Blighty mainly because of Brexit, Joseph – whose brother is Harry Potter star Ralph Fiennes – has recalled how his two daughters, now 13 and 15, didn’t initially take to the drizzly climate, and that their family was welcomed home by criminals.
‘Within a week of arriving, my wife was mugged, her phone was stolen, my car was taken, the flat we bought went down by 14 per cent and the kids said: “Dad, what are we doing here? It’s raining every day,”‘ Joseph recalled.
However, having grown up himself in ‘abject poverty’ with ‘struggling and penniless’ parents, Joseph was keen not to shield his children from the real world, which unfortunately does involve adversity.
‘It goes back to there being adversity. Yes, I want you to catch the Tube and the bus and understand how to negotiate timetables, the bad weather and a difficult city and the cost of living,’ he explained.
‘The city is also a colossus of culture. There’s theatre. One of my children is studying art GCSE and we go to the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A — there’s so much.
‘So I won’t be put off by the high taxes or poo in the river or what I call the crime bikes — the Lime bikes whose riders go around and snatch bags — because I offset all of that against the extraordinary, diverse wonder and culture.’
Thankfully, Joseph’s children are beginning to love London, even though their life in Mallorca couldn’t have been more different (they were surrounded by wildlife, living totally off grid in the hills, even using their own well).
Joseph explained there’s a misconception attached to his famous surname: that he and Ralph came from a wealthy family, partly due to them being related to English explorer, writer and poet Ranulph Feinnnes, who was educated at Eton and became the 3rd Baronet Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes at birth.
In reality, Joseph sad his parents were struggling artists – his father a photographer and his mother a writer – who were ‘completely broke, always in debt, with seven children to feed’.
Latest London news
- London’s new luxury neighbourhoods where house prices have reached £1,000,000
- There’s a capsule missing from the London Eye – here’s why
- Here’s how much more drivers will pay for the London congestion charge next year
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s London news hub.
For extra income they rennovated properties, which saw Joseph relocating so much he attended 14 schools.
Having seen what life without financial stability can look like, Joseph admitted he and his siblings got a ‘kick’ to make their realities different.
He and Ralph, both famed actors, also have two sisters – Martha and Sophie – who work as directors, while brother Magnus is a composer and Joseph’s twin Jacob is a conservationist.
Joseph is best known for playing William Shakespeare in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, Monsignor Timothy Howard in American Horror Story, and Commander Fred Waterford in The Handmaid’s Tale.
He also took a turn as Gareth Southgate in Dear England, a James Graham play about the ex-England boss.
He’s also starring as the football legend in a new TV mini-series spin off, set to be released in 2026.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.