The delight that Celia Holman Lee speaks about her four grandsons and one granddaughter shines through our phone conversation and she talks about being fortunate to see them, albeit through the use of technology, during the lockdown.

“When COVID started and the lockdown, even though I didn’t have my grandchildren, I could see them and speak to them on WhatsApp, on FaceTime. They were there and then when we came out of it to see them, they have given me more than I ever will give them. They are just incredible,” she says. 

“A week doesn’t go that we don’t have the three or the two, my daughter has two and my son has three, or we’ll all come together.

“They love coming here and I can hear the cars coming, and the door’s open and I just run out. 

“They’re wonderful, they’re just, just wonderful. If anything happened in my life that was really wonderful and phenomenal and great, it’s them.”

We talk about son Ivan and daughter Cecile being parents and she’s quick to praise her children.

“My daughter has two boys and my son has two boys and a girl. I look them and I watch the children and I say to [husband] Ger, ‘They’re so good, so well behaved, such good students, such good kids,’ I think that I must have done something right with the parents. They’re wonderful. 

“The little children have grown into being so thoughtful, so loving, so good, so wonderful and I reared their parents. I’m very proud that way.”

All of her grandchildren, aged between 11 and three, live within 15-20 minutes from Celia and Ger and she describes herself as ‘blessed.’

I ask if she has any advice for upcoming grandparents and she talks about the open and genuine affection she showers on her grandchildren whenever she sees them.

“All I do every time I see them, is just tell them I love them. I’m always kissing them, so is my husband, he’s very much part of this, we’re always hugging them. We love them, we never see anything wrong in them and I think that’s kind of important.”

Her advice? “Let the parents do the parenting.

“We’re at the other side of our lives; I’m 70 on December 2, so let me spoil them as much as I possibly can and that’s what we do. We don’t need to be parenting; the parents are doing it and doing a fantastic job. They [grandchildren] come in and the cushions would be flying around the place, they’d be playing and jumping and I leave them off. We go for walks with them, we’d take them away for days out, they play with us in the garden. 

“They’re just a joy and thank you god I’ve learned to understand what a joy they are. We hadn’t known any babies; all my friends’ children were grown-up and we didn’t know babies as such. And then this child came in the front door, Cecile had the first, Henry, and from then on, that was it.”

How proud she is of them is evident, but she says she finds it difficult to adequately explain how much they mean to her.

“They’ve kept me focused, they’ve kept me lively, they’ve kept me interested, they’ve kept me doing things, going places, going to playgrounds and walks and running around fairy forts and doing silly things that I would never have done if I didn’t have them,” she laughs.

“I would tell people to just enjoy their time with their grandchildren. I’m working since I was 15 years of age and I was working and raising my two children at the same time. 

“COVID took a lot from us workwise but I’m still doing a bit. Before all that, no matter what was on, they got priority. It’s amazing; your priorities change completely, it’s about them. That has made me a calmer and better person. I’m not searching or running to the next job, I’m not pushing. That’s gone from me now because of the grandchildren.”

Celia is well-known on our television screens and her grace, elegance and poise means she’s garnered many fans who appreciate her styling and modelling work. But what do her grandchildren think of their granny being on TV?

“They love it. Erica says, ‘Granny,’ and I said, ‘Yes, my darling.’ ‘Granny, I want to ask you something. Are you famous?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m a bit famous, why my love?’ And she said, ‘My friends said to me, “Your granny is famous, she’s on the television!”’ The boys don’t give a damn,” she laughs, “but she asks. The boys just think it’s part of who I am but Erica is a real little girl and she really enjoys it.”