Child abuser Freud had a secret daughter in France
THE late British MP and broadcaster Clement Freud, who was exposed as a child abuser during the week, fathered a secret daughter with a French lover, it emerged yesterday.
Freud, a grandson of the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, was known to millions as a comedian, writer and broadcaster as well as being a Liberal MP. He died in 2009.
It emerged this week that two women have come forward to say they were abused by him as children. Now it has emerged that he fathered a girl called Michele, who was raised in France. Freud’s family have maintained links with her. Michele is understood to have been born before his other five children, who include publicist Matthew and broadcaster Emma. She is a psychotherapist and expert in sophrology – a form of alternative therapy that involves breathing exercises.
Speaking at the gates of her house in Saint-Raphael, near Cannes, Michele confirmed she was Freud’s daughter but declined to comment further.
Freud worked in a Cannes hotel in the late 1940s. In his 2001 autobiography, Freud recalled a number of liaisons with local women, including the twin daughters of a smallhotel owner in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Michele is friends on Facebook with her halfsiblings. It is understood she spent some holidays as a child in England with her father.
The Freud family declined to comment last night.