In the years leading to her tragic death, Peaches Geldof had turned from wild child to devoted mother and often spoke of her wish to create a stable family environment for her two sons.
In an interview with ELLE Magazine following the birth of first son Phaedra, she revealed how starting her own family had been instrumental in overcoming the demons of her tumultuous childhood.
“My parents had gone through a very public, bitter divorce and I was very much old enough to see what was going on. People talked about us and I knew it was horrendously bad. I was completely aware of the whole situation, the transition of my mother who was amazing, who wrote books on parenting, who gave us this idyllic childhood in Kent; and who then turned into this heartbroken shell of a woman who was just medicating to get through the day,” she explained.
“On top of that, there was my father who was very embittered and depressed about it and for us children, an environment that was impossible, veering between a week with my mother that was complete chaos, and then with my father, which was almost Dickensian – homework, dinner, bed – because he was trying in his own way to combat what was going on at my mother’s. It was like living on a permanent see-saw and very scary and sad. Those feelings have always stayed with me, they just never went away.’
However, she added that becoming a mum had been “like a rebirth for me” and expressed her wish to create a stable home for her young family.
“I honestly never thought anything in my life would ever be good. I’m obsessed with getting it right. The second I held him it was like this missing piece of my life being put into place; everything started to heal,” she said.
“The very worst thing that happened to me started with my parents’ divorce, it really affected the rest of my life. Even if it’s an archaic idea I want Astala to have a mummy and daddy together for ever. It’s a commitment. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good person.”
