The actress didn’t sign up for any TV shows or movies for nearly a decade after the birth of her son Damian – from her relationship with Steve Bing – in April 2002, and The Royals star insists all she was concerned about was making sure the youngster had a ”real childhood” rather than her own career.
She said: ”I knew when I said to my agent, ‘I’m staying at home now. I don’t want to take my son around from trailer to trailer to different countries, have tutors. I want him to have a real childhood he remembers – same school, same friends. I want mummy to drive him to work and mummy to make shepherd’s pie for his supper.’ I didn’t really mind if I didn’t work again.”
Elizabeth’s latest role sees her play Queen Helena in E! drama series The Royals – which also stars Joan Collins as her on-screen mother, the Grand Duchess of Oxford – and the star admits she was delighted to land such a great part ”out of the blue.”
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Elizabeth – who made her TV drama return as Diana Payne on Gossip Girl in 2011 – added: ”I took nearly eight years off to raise my son, I still did my beachwear company but I didn’t go away to do a TV show or a movie because I wanted to be home with my son. I didn’t know if I’d ever really work again because it’s a long time to take off so I didn’t expect to come back and get great parts. This coming out of the blue was the biggest thrill for me.”