Hugh Grant has angrily shared an “insulting and creepy” encounter he had at Heathrow Airport with his wife and children.
The Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary actor, who was Bafta nominated earlier this year for his rare scary turn in 2024 horror film Heretic, was travelling through the airport on Friday (4 April) where he claimed that his three children were unnecessarily questioned by an immigration officer.
He wrote on X/Twitter: “Just came through Heathrow with wife and children. We all have the same last name (Grant) on our passports.
“Immigration officer engages my children in chit chat then whispers to them ‘Are these your Mum and Dad?’”
Grant described the encounter as “intrusive, insulting and creepy”.
The actor was travelling with his three children – aged 12, eight and six– that he shares with his wife Anna Elisabet Eberstein. He also has a 13 and 11-year-old with ex Tinglan Hong.
The actor, who is private when it comes family affairs, did not say where he was travelling to or from.
Immigration officers – also known as Border Force officers – are employed by Home Office, not the airport.
Official government guidance notes that officers “may ask” travellers “a few questions” if they “are not the child’s parent” or “if you have a different family name” to “establish your relationship with the child” in a way that “is sensitive to the interests of the child and the adult involved”.
The Independent has contacted the Home Office for comment.
While Grant rarely discusses his children, he recently revealed that his youngest daughter’s middle name is a hilarious reference to Austin Powers.
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The British film star said that the decision came after finding himself “in a bit of a panic” with his wife, whom he married in 2018.
Grant said of his six-year-old, who was born in March 2018: “We thought it might be nice for her when she was older if she could say in bars that her middle name is Danger. So her name is Lulu Danger Grant. Austin Powers, you know?”
In the first Austin Powers film, International Man of Mystery (1997), Powers (Mike Myers) corrects a man who asks him if his name is Danger Powers. When he tells him his name is, in fact, Austin Powers, the man replies: “It says here Danger Powers,” to which Austin flirtily looks at Elizabeth Hurley’s Vanessa Kensington and says: “No, no, no – Danger’s my middle name.”
Grant also revealed that he almost named his other daughter after his son’s favourite Despicable Me character – the Minion called Kevin.
“We asked her elder brother when she was on the way, ‘There’s a new baby coming along, what shall we call her?’ and he said ‘Kevin’, because that was his favourite Minion.
Grant continued: “And we did think about calling her Kevin, but then we said, ‘You’d better think of something else’, and he said ‘Blue’ because that was his favourite colour.”
The actor was in a relationship with Austin Powers star Elizabeth Hurley from 1987 to 2000, and the pair have remained close friends since their split. Grant, who has five children, is godfather to Hurley’s son, Damian.
Speaking about Grant in 2021, Hurley said: “He’s very happily married. I spent some time with him and his wife a few weeks ago at a birthday party. He has five children. He’s a great daddy.
“His career is through-the-roof fantastic at the moment. Best reviews of his life, brilliant offers on the table. We’re good friends and I hope it always stays that way.”
