Lily: ‘I’ll prove I’m a good mum
She’s torn between her man and her kids
‘She notices when people ask why she isn’t with the kids’
Up until last week, Lily Allen has always seemed keen to keep her daughters – Ethel, seven, and Marnie, six – shielded from the limelight. But at the Frozen II premiere, the sisters made their first ever red-carpet debut alongside their 34-year-old mum. Dressed as Elsa and Anna for their big appearance, they clutched tightly to Lily in front of photographers.
An insider close to Lily – who shares custody of the girls with her ex-husband Sam Cooper – tells us that she is keen to prove she’s a good mum, as she’s struggling to balance her love life with family commitments.
“Part of the reason why she wanted to take them out in public was to remind everyone that she is a good parent and to show people that she is there for her kids. She was feeling really sensitive about her decision and got angry when she saw how quick people were to criticise her for pushing them into the limelight.”
Lily has recently gone public with her new relationship with Stranger Things actor David Harbour, and we’re told she’s been feeling guilty about spending so much time spent with her new beau. “Lately things have intensified with David. He lives in New York, so their romance requires Lily to travel more than usual,” our source explains. “Recently, when she was staying with him in the States, she was pictured out by herself while he was working and she felt really guilty that she wasn’t with the kids. She’ll be the first to admit she can’t help reading every single comment about herself online, and she will reply to trolls. She notices when people ask her where her kids are or ask why she isn’t pictured with them more.”
It seems the premiere was the perfect place for Lily to earn some mummy brownie points. “She wants people to know that she’s not just pleasing herself and running after David in the US. She loves her kids and they remain a priority for her, so she wanted to prove that to people. It helped that her kids are crazy about Frozen!”
And now, we’re told, Lily’s hoping her daughters will be able to travel with her more often, to ease the strain on balancing her relationship with her family life. “Lily is hoping that Ethel and Marnie get more comfortable in the limelight and will want to do more showbiz events like the premiere with her. It would massively help her situation if the girls could travel with her more. She feels really torn over her relationship with David, because although he has told Lily he loves her, it would make things extremely difficult for his career to move to the UK.” n