Hugh Bonneville has admitted he feels ‘blessed to start a new chapter’ after a turbulent few years.

The actor, 62, separated from his wife of 25 years, Lulu Williams, in 2023 after losing his mother, brother and father in the space of six years.

Hugh has now found love with vegan influencer Heidi Kadlecova.

Their relationship has gone from strength-to-strength, with Heidi accompanying him on the red carpet of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale in New York last September.

The TV star admitted: ‘I do feel very blessed and very content to have started a new chapter.

‘I am more accepting of the wheel of life and how fortunate I have been to have, on the whole, good health and to do something I love.’

In the February issue of Saga Magazine, Hugh reflected on the overwhelming grief he faced after his mother Patricia died.

Patricia – whom he only learned later in life worked for MI6 – died aged 85 in 2014.

It marked the beginning of a prolonged period of family loss that would deeply affect the actor.

He said: ‘The admin of the funeral and everything numbed the grief for a while. I didn’t read any of the letters of commiseration or condolence we received until a year later, when I took them all with me to India.

‘I was doing a film but had one weekend off, so I went on my own to this incredibly peaceful, quiet hotel in the middle of nowhere and read all the letters and absolutely let it all out. All the emotion. That was a very cathartic thing.’

Hugh’s brother Nigel died unexpectedly in his sleep two years later followed by his father John, a surgeon, in 2020 at the age of 93 after a battle with dementia.

‘In terms of my outlook on life, having lost three significant members of my family, it’s made me more fatalistic,’ he added.

Hugh, who has a 22-year-old son, Felix, with his ex-wife, Lucinda, is set to appear on stage at the Aldwych Theatre next month.

He will portray CS Lewis in the West End production of Shadowlands.

When asked if he would ever reprise his role as Lord Grantham following The Grand Finale of Downton Abbey, Hugh said he wouldn’t be surprised if a spin-off show was created, but ‘our company has left the building’.