Game of Thrones

THE daughter of late actress Dame Diana Rigg has admitted to an unusual tribute of eating her ashes prior to live shows.

Rachael Stirling, 49, followed in her acclaimed mother’s footsteps by becoming an actress.

Viewers may have seen Rachael pop up in shows including The Bletchley Circle, Detectorists and an episode of Doctor Who alongside Diana.

In her new book, All About My Mother, Rachael opened up about a surprising pre-show ritual.

She wrote, as quoted by Daily Mail: “I would love to have a nightly glass of champagne before going on stage, but these days it would equate to a drinking problem.”

Rachael’s alternative on a new play’s opening night, however, is “a grain or two of my mother’s ashes“.

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She added: “Although it shocks people when I tell them, it feels absolutely natural to me.”

Her mother Diana died in September 2020, at the age of 82 and it was later confirmed she had lung cancer.

The former Bond Girl famously played secret agent Emma Peel in 51 episodes of the Avengers in the 1960s.

She was also the only Bond girl to marry 007 – getting hitched to George Lazenby in Her Majesty’s Secret Service – only to be killed moments after.

In her later career, Diana appeared in shows such as Game of Thrones and ITV‘s Victoria.

She also played Mrs Pumphrey in series one of Channel 5‘s All Creatures Great and Small.

Miranda star Patricia Hodge would later take over the role after Diana’s death.

Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie still remembers what she learnt when winter was coming.

Rose Leslie has shared some handy behind the scenes Game of Thrones tricks she used for Vigil season three.

Vigil continues to air every Sunday and Monday night on BBC One as DI Kirsten Longacre (played by Rose Leslie) heads up the latest murder investigation.

But in a complete 180 degrees move to series two which was mostly set in the Middle East, season three takes place in Svalbard, Norway, which is located in the Arctic Circle.

And with Svalbard having an average annual temperature between minus 11 and minus 16 degrees, it wasn’t the easiest of conditions to work in.

Nevertheless, Leslie did pick up a few helpful tips while shooting in Iceland’s freezing temperatures for Game of Thrones.

“Filming back then, I was given a brilliant hack that I also used for Svalbard as well.

“Essentially, if you get a heat pack and you place them on both your kidneys, you are then heating up your blood because your blood is going through your kidneys and then whizzing everywhere else in your system.

“So if you’re heating up the blood going through your kidneys, you’re actually going to warm yourself up.

So I was like ‘Guys, you’ve got to listen to me on this!’ And it works!

“That really helped me on every single day we were filming outside on the mountain tops.”

Vigil season three returns for its third episode tonight, Sunday, September 6, where Kirsten will finally be reunited with DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones).

It’s been teased that Amy travels to Svalbard to “clear Kirsten’s name” as she faces the “wrath of the Russians”.

The official synopsis continues: “Together, they dig into the complex motivations within the hub whilst something more sinister bubbles beneath its surface.

“The truth of Hodge’s murder may be closer to home than they thought, but the situation threatens to combust before they can get to the truth.”

Vigil is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.