Dame Sheila Hancock spoke on Good Morning Britain as part of her quest to discover a necklace of “great personal value” to her and give a £500 prize for its recovery.
However, the legendary actress, 90, expressed her dissatisfaction with the current lack of police assistance for missing items.
Dame Sheila has lost a cherished gold chain including four wedding rings from each of her parents and her two marriages to the late John Thaw and Alec Ross, and her social media campaign has already garnered a lot of attention and support.
In her second appearance on the ITV show in less than a month, the singer said how her father’s signet ring on the gold chain was ‘the only item I have of my father’ and that it also had a crucifix on it that she bought in Egypt.
The Bafta nominee and former Gogglebox star only wears it for special occasions and recently misplaced it on a West End theatrical night out.
Explaining her concerns and disappointment over the situation, she told presenters Susannah Reid, Ed Balls and Richard Arnold: ‘The thing that worries me is nowadays we’ve been to the police and they don’t do lost and found anymore, they haven’t got time. Obviously, they are so busy, why should a silly actress’s necklace bother them? But if somebody’s got it and if you find something like that, what do you do?’
‘In the old days, you stopped the copper on the beat or you went to the police station with it. Now all the police stations are closed, so you can’t do that,’ she added.
‘So, I have the feeling that somewhere out there there’s somebody that’s picked it up, [and] put it in their pocket thinking, “This is obviously some sentimental thing, what can I do with it?”’
The Carry On Cleo, who earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Soane in 1966, also addressed the way her appeal has blown up on social media, for which she is grateful.
‘It was my daughter’s idea to go on the web and it’s turned into a much bigger thing,’ she shared.
Sharing several posts on Twitter over the weekend, her official account was offering a reward for finding the necklace as the Metropolitan Police ‘no longer deal with lost items’.
A tweeted statement read: ‘Sheila is so grateful to everyone sharing the posts about her lost chain with the wedding rings.
‘It hasn’t been found yet but she sends heartfelt thanks to everyone trying to share news for her.
‘If anyone does find it, it is of such huge personal import(ance) to her.. plse contact us.’
An earlier tweet explained: ‘CCTV suggests this necklace w. the 4 wedding rings was lost round Haymarket W1 [sic].
Sheila is heartbroken to lose her most treasured possession- a gold chain holding 4 wedding rings; from her parents & her 2 marriages to Alec & John. Believe lost in central London. PLEASE RT in case anyone finds it. She is absolutely desperate for its return. Reward offered. pic.twitter.com/X1D2ABvSJW
— Sheila Hancock News (@4SheilaHancock) July 1, 2023
‘The police no longer deal with lost items so even if someone went to hand it in there is no central system to find it. She is desperate to have this personal treasure back.’
Pictures of Dame Sheila with the chain around her neck were also shared, which said the actress is ‘heartbroken to lose her most treasured possession’.
Dame Sheila began her career in the theatre, where she found success in both the West End and on Broadway. She was married to actor Thaw before his death in 2002.
She previously married fellow actor Ross in 1955 and remained married to him until his death from oesophageal cancer in 1971.
Her career blossomed with BBC comedic appearances, including roles in comedies such as The Rag Trade, Mr Digby Darling, and Now Take My Wife, as well as a thriving writing career.
She received a DBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for services to theatre and charity after landing her own series, But Seriously, It’s Sheila Hancock, in 1972.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
Source My Celebrity Life.
