Bob Monkhouse - Personal Life

Personal Life

Monkhouse was married twice, firstly to Elizabeth Thompson on 5 November 1949. The couple separated in 1967 and divorced in 1972. His second marriage was to Jacqueline Harding (b. 1936 d. in Barbados 28 March 2008) from 4 October 1973 until his death. He had three children from his first marriage, but only his adopted daughter Abigail survived him. His son Gary Alan, who had cerebral palsy, died in Braintree, Essex, in 1992, aged 40; this led to Monkhouse's being an avid campaigner for the disabled. His other son Simon, from whom he had been estranged for almost ten years, died of a heroin overdose in a hotel in Northern Thailand in May 2001.

Monkhouse lived in Eggington, near Leighton Buzzard, and had an apartment in London and a holiday home in Barbados.

In his autobiography, he admitted to hundreds of sexual liaisons and affairs, including one with a transsexual, but claimed he only undertook this course of action because his first wife was unfaithful. His regular lovers before his second marriage included the actress Diana Dors, about whose parties he later commented after her death: "The awkward part about an orgy, is that afterwards you're not too sure who to thank."

For most of his career Monkhouse had jotted down jokes, odd facts, one-liners, sketches and ideas in a series of ring binders, which he took with him everywhere. In July 1995, they were stolen and Monkhouse offered a £15,000 reward. They were returned after 18 months, but the thief, although arrested, was never charged.

Monkhouse was a vocal supporter of the Conservative Party for some years. He was appointed an OBE in 1993. He died of prostate cancer on 29 December 2003.