A Hollywood icon, Julie Andrews has shaped cinematic history in more ways than one. If it’s humming along in The Sound of Music, teaching us how to courtesy as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in The Princess Diaries films, or more recently, as the voice of Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton. The 87-year-old actor has been in the industry for decades and has won an Oscar, two Emmys, and three Grammys, but what do we know about her personal life? And who are her children?
As it turns out, Andrews has quite the large blended family with five children. In 1959, the actor married British set designer Tony Walton and they had a daughter together, Emma Walton Hamilton. Now 60, Hamilton appeared in films like Curse of the Pink Panther and That’s Life, but is probably best known for co-writing children’s books with Andrews. Their book, The Very Fairy Princess, went on to become a bestseller and has become a series of books. Andrews also collaborated with her daughter on her 2019 memoir Home Work and recently also launched their podcast Julie’s Library, where they read children’s stories.
The Princess Diaries actor has been married twice. From 1969 until his passing in 2010, she was with director Blake Edwards who had two children from his first marriage with Patricia Edwards. Their daughter Jennifer Edwards, 65, worked as an actor while their son Geoffrey Edwards, 63, is a screenwriter.
Whilst Jennifer rose to prominence with her role in the 1968 film Heidi, Geoffrey wrote the script for Curse of the Pink Panther, where his stepsister Emma played a role. In 1974, a few years after their marriage, Andrews and her husband adopted two children from Vietnam, Amy Leigh and Joanna Lynne. However unlike her other children, both Amy and Joanna have stayed out of the public eye.
Andrews also has nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Hope Hamilton, her 19-year-old grandchild, has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and is working in musical theatre. In 2021, she performed in Bay Street Theater’s production of Camelot. A somewhat full circle moment since Andrews created the role of Guenevere on Broadway and Bay Street is a company which her parents Emma and Stephen Hamilton founded.
“She loved it. She has always been super supportive of me, but this one is extra special because now we can share our experiences and compare them,” Hope shared of her grandmother’s reaction to Sag Harbor Express.
