Legendary actress Dame Maggie Smith has died at the age of 89.
A statement from her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said: "It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith.
"She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday, September 27. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.
"We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time."
Dame Maggie won a Best Actress Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969 and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite in 1978.
More recently she won a new generation of fans as sharp-tongued but loveable matriarch Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey between 2010 and 2015 and playing the beloved character Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies.
Born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, Dame Maggie Smith found global fame as an actress in a hugely successful career that began back in 1952 as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse. In recognition of her amazing career, Maggie was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
Friends and fans of the star have begun offering their condolences, including British broadcaster Gyles Brandreth who paid tribute to “truly great actress”...
Writing on Twitter/X, he said: ”The saddest news: the death of Dame Maggie Smith marks the end of a golden era and a quite extraordinary life.
“She was a truly great actress, one of the greats and simply the best company: wise, witty, waspish, wonderful. One of a kind in every way and consequently irreplaceable.”
