Helen Mirren says 'I look at him all the time' in emotional admission about family tragedy

Dame Helen Mirren has shared the heartbreak of seeing her stepson's face "every day" following his tragic passing after a battle with a rare cancer. 

The Oscar-winning actress, who never had children of her own, became a stepmother to husband Taylor Hackford's two sons from an earlier relationship when they tied the knot in 1997.

Her stepson, Rio Hackford, tragically lost his life to a rare form of eye cancer in 2022 at the tender age of 51. 

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Dame Helen has opened up about how this loss affected her in the years since. In an interview with People, she revealed: "I have his picture on my phone as my screensaver, so I look at his face all the time, every day.

"Rio died of ocular melanoma (also known as eye cancer), we didn't know about that condition, and it was only through that awful experience that we learned that this is a melanoma that can grow at the back of your eye without you having any consciousness of it."

Dame Helen is of the belief that if her son had gone for more regular eye tests, he might still be alive today.

She continued: "Rio hadn't had his eyes checked for 10 years because his eyesight didn't change. So he thought, 'why do I need my eyes checked if my eyesight's perfectly fine?' "

"If he'd had his eyes checked they would have caught it early. It's a rare thing, but it happens and it's a death sentence."

According to NHS data, fewer than 1,000 (850) cases of eye cancer (ocular cancer) are diagnosed in the UK each year.

The organisation says: "There are a number of different types of cancer that affect the eyes, including: eye melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, lymphoma and retinoblastoma – a childhood cancer."

Dame Helen tied the knot with her husband after they met on the set of the 1985 film White Nights. This was her first walk down the aisle and his third, despite having lived with actor Liam Neeson in the early 1980s.

She once confessed to having "no maternal instinct", but found it a "great pleasure" to be involved with her husband's children.

Last month, Dame Helen graced our screens again with her role in the adaptation of Richard Osman's bestselling book The Thursday Murder Club. The film had a limited cinema release and also premiered on Netflix.

She has been in the running for an Oscar four times, clinching the award for her portrayal of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.

Her performances in The Madness of King George, Gosford Park and The Last Station also earned her nominations.

Over the years, the 80-year-old actress has starred in two of her husband's films; White Nights in 1985 and Love Ranch in 2010.

She is also slated to share the screen with Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, and Danny DeVito in Taylor's upcoming film, Sniff, which is still awaiting a confirmed release date.