‘The bedrock of my life’: Michael Palin announces the death of his wife Helen

Monty Python star said his dearest wife' died peacefully' a month after the pair celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary

Sir Michael Palin has announced the death of his wife, Helen, after 57 years of marriage.

Palin, 79, described his wife as the bedrock of my life" and said they first met while holidaying in the seaside town of Southwold, Suffolk, and he fictionalised the encounter in a 1987 BBC drama titled East Of Ipswich.