Patrick Stewart Shares Harrowing Story Of Growing Up In A Violent Home
Patrick Stewart, beloved for his roles in Star Trek and X-Men, has opened up about his harrowing childhood in a violent household. The 84-year-old actor spoke candidly in the ITV documentary Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, sharing his personal story to bring attention to the devastating impact of domestic abuse.
“Domestic violence was something that people never spoke about,” Patrick said, according to The Times. “And so I never told anyone. I kept it all to myself. It was locked inside me, and I felt shame.”
Patrick’s father, a World War II veteran, returned home in 1945 when Patrick was just six years old. What should have been a time of joy turned into a nightmare. “The shouting was so loud because he had a huge voice,” Patrick recalled, revealing that he used to scream at his dad whenever he continuously hit his mother.
He described how he and his brother Trevor, mere children, became experts at sensing when violence would erupt. Sitting on the staircase outside the living room, they listened intently to the escalating arguments. “…We always knew the moment that the violence was going to begin,” he said.
When the shouting turned physical, the boys would leap into action. “So with that, we would push open the door and burst into the room, and my brother Trevor, who was taller than me, would force himself between my father and my mother so that he couldn’t reach her. And she would shout out, ‘No, no, no, please, you don’t have to protect me. I’m all right, I’m all right.’ And I yelled at him as well,” Trevor explained.
In one particularly striking memory, Patrick recalled a courageous neighbor who intervened during a violent episode. According to him, the neighbor had burst “the door open when my father was yelling and [she] walked over to my father, pushed her sleeves up, put up her fists and said, ‘Come on, Al Stewart, try it on me. Try it on me.’”
These experiences left a deep mark on Patrick, shaping his commitment to raising awareness about domestic abuse. His story is featured alongside Queen Camilla’s advocacy work in Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors. The documentary highlights survivors’ voices and underscores the importance of support for women and families affected by domestic violence.
