Tilda’s ex: my father is also my granddad

THE former lover of actor Tilda Swinton has revealed that he was born after an incestuous relationship between his mother and his grandfather.

Playwright John Byrne, 77, who has two children with Swinton, was at the home he shared with the Chronicles Of Narnia star in Tain, Scotland, when he discovered the dark secret. Mr Byrne – known to his family as Iain – said he was told in a 2002 phone call from his cousin Aileen Kane the truth about his mother Alice, and Alice’s father Patrick McShane, who were Irish immigrants to Scotland.

Mr Byrne, pictured with Swinton, said: ‘Aileen’s mother, my auntie Helen, had died. She’d told Aileen what my mother had told her [Helen]. Aileen asked Tilda, “Do you think I should tell Iain?” Tilda said, “You’ve got to tell him.”’

The playwright told The Times he recalled how his mother would walk eight miles to see her father. He said: ‘She was in love with her own father. She just wanted to be in his company.’

Mr Byrne split from Swinton, 56, in 2005.