Dame Esther Rantzen pictured in January 2023
Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed that she will celebrate Christmas with her family earlier than usual this month in case she does not survive until the 25th.
The 85-year-old broadcasting legend is battling terminal cancer and recently revealed that she has stopped treatment in consultation with her doctors.
“This year I am planning an ‘official’ Christmas with my children and five grandchildren, slightly ahead of the real Christmas so that there will be more chance that I am actually alive to enjoy it with them!” she wrote in The Times.
“When I was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2023, I did not expect to last until the next Christmas, so the fact that I am still here and looking forward to this one is a wonderful surprise.”
Rantzen – a chief proponent of the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ currently progressing through Parliament – is still planning to go ahead with an assisted death in Switzerland when her condition becomes too painful.
“So far the news has not been bad enough for me to book a flight to Zurich, where I long ago decided to go if my life ever becomes unbearable, to arrange a quick death at Dignitas,” she continued. “Literally the last thing I want is for my family to have painful memories of me.
“When I started this journey, as they say on Strictly, I assumed that I’d fall off my perch in weeks, not months, let alone years. So I didn’t plan any treats to look forward to, the way I always have done in the past.
“But given that I may last longer than I ever expected, I have just had great fun ordering tulip bulbs for the spring as well as making sure I have a turkey for our family Christmas.
“If I am still around for the real Christmas Day and new year, I look forward to relaxing, quiet days at home, spiced up with plenty of exuberant Zoom and phone calls.”
