Patrick Stewart’s estranged son honours Star Trek, X-Men star without a single word

Patrick Stewart’s estranged son Daniel Stewart has paid tribute to his late father with a single photo posted to social media without a single word in the caption.

The Star Trek and X-Men star died at home on Wednesday after a brief and private battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. News of his passing was made public on Friday.

Daniel, 59, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) shortly after the news of his father’s death broke to share an old picture of them together on stage.

It was taken during their 2001 production of the play Johnson Over Jordan by J.B. Priestley at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in the UK.

Unlike many of Patrick’s former co-stars, Daniel opted not to write a long an emotional caption memorialising his father.

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Their relationship had been strained for years leading up to the Hollywood legend’s passing, as had Patrick’s relationship with his daughter Sophie, 54.

Patrick shared Daniel and Sophie with his first wife, Sheila Falconer, and confessed his relationship with them was “practically nonexistent” years before he died.

“Given that I’m separated from my children now, we don’t have relationships, they have become very important,” he told the Irish Independent in 2023.

“I never thought that this would happen, but both my children are in their 50s, they’re not children anymore, they’re adults.”

He admitted the estrangement, which he hinted had been caused by him always putting acting before his family, had caused him “significant grief”.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not pained by the memory of my children, who they were and by a sense of responsibility that they became who they are in part because of me and my influence or lack of influence on them,” Patrick said.

He had previously told reporters that he was horrified when son Daniel announced he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and pursue acting.

Not because he didn’t want Daniel to share his passion for stage and screen, but because he feared it would take the same toll on Daniel as it had on him.

“I could’ve done better as a parent when my kids were little. I was just obsessed with my work and everything else took second place,” Patrick told The Independent in 2009.

His daughter Sophie opted to stay out of the spotlight.

Patrick’s death was announced on Instagram on Friday with a statement from Kelly Bush Novak, his longtime spokesperson.

“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia,” it read.

“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all. 

“We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”

Patrick is survived by his children and his singer-songwriter wife Sunny Ozell.

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