... As Benedict names secret Cumberbaby after Hiddy
HE HAS yet to formally announce the news – but Benedict Cumberbatch has become a father for the second time.
The actor’s wife, Sophie Hunter, 39, gave birth to their second son at the £1,200-a-night Portland Hospital in London on March 3. And in true thespian style, Cumberbatch named his boy after a Shakespearean hero.
Hal was the nickname Henry V had before he became the hero of Agincourt. But in choosing the name, Cumberbatch could also be acknowledging his affection for fellow screen star Tom Hiddleston.
The pair starred together in 2012 in The Hollow Crown, an amalgamation of Shakespeare’s history plays in which Cumberbatch played Richard III and Hiddleston took the role of Hal.
They have been close pals ever since meeting on the set of Steven Spielberg’s film War Horse in 2010.
‘We became friends for life,’ Hiddleston has said. The baby’s full name is Hal Auden Cumberbatch, and is a brother to Christopher, who was born in June 2015.