Claire Foy says parenting would be MUCH easier without mummy shamers
We all fell in love with Claire Foy when she graced our screens as Queen Elizabeth on The Crown. Now you’re going to fall in love a little bit more, because her thoughts on mummy shamers and balancing career and baby are royally relatable, too.
“The utmost respect”
Claire is now separated from her husband of four years, fellow actor Stephen Campbell Moore. The couple are parents to a two-year-old daughter, and announced their split in February.
“We can confirm that we have separated and have been for some time,” the pair said in a joint statement.
“We do however continue as great friends with the utmost respect for one another. We ask for our privacy during this time.”
“Being a mess in every single place”
In the wake of this separation and on the cusp of a new film release (called Unsane), Claire spoke to Marie Claire about her most famous role as the young Queen – and the more private one of being a mother.
“It’s been physically quite hard,” she said of juggling her juggernaut of a career with a baby. She admits she’s not holding it together at all (and we feel MUCH better about ourselves as a result!).
“I’ve had to take care of myself after a baby and working those hours, then feel bad about working so [I’d] wake up early to see my child. Just being a mess in every single place I was in.”
“Everything is a challenge”
It’s a relatable sentiment, and frankly her routine sounds exhausting. We have no clue how she managed to turn on such a brilliant performance whilst sleep deprived and weighed down by mum guilt.
“Everything is a challenge,” Claire admits. “You have a really amazing day, then you have an ‘armpit of the world’ day.”
She notes that despite much ado, it’s still incredibly difficult to manage a family and a job, especially when you’re in the public eye.
“When a woman gets to childbearing age, she has to disappear or not have children and then be judged – it’s really weird.
“Women find it incredibly difficult to go back to work after children. It’s not encouraged. It’s just not the norm.”
“Less judgement”
Claire reasons that taking the pressure off women to fulfil a particular ideal and pushing for equality and more support would pay huge dividends.
“[Mums need] less judgement. Less people having a go. Being able to say ‘I feel shit’, and everyone going, ‘That’s alright.’ It’s such a relief to realise everyone else is finding it just as hard.”
It truly is and we’re so pleased to catch a glimpse at the surprisingly normal struggles of someone who, from the outside, appears to have it all together.
Read more about The Crown:
- Claire Foy was “halfway up a Scottish mountain with engorged boobs”
- We’re still recovering from THAT “twilight birth” scene on The Crown
- Take a peek inside the REAL royal family’s photo album