Jill Freud, the stage icon who inspired the character of Lucy in CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has died. She was 98. The Guardian has reported Emma Freud, the Love Actually actress' daughter, confirmed her demise in a statement: “My beautiful 98-year-old mum has taken her final bow. After a loving evening – where we knew she was on her way – surrounded by children, grandchildren and pizza, she told us all to f*ck off so she could go to sleep. And then she never woke up. Her final words were ‘I love you’.” Details about Lady Jill Freud's family remain scarce, though she had five children, one of whom was adopted. This includes Emma and Matthew Freud. She also leaves behind 17 grandchildren. Jill Freud's life and legacy explored: View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIn her statement, Emma said that her mother's last film credit was as the housekeeper of Downing Street in Love Actually. The film was written and directed by her son-in-law, Richard Curtis. She also noted the three decades she spent helming the repertory theatre companies in Suffolk, “employing hundreds of actors who loved her for her passion, her care, her shepherd’s pie, her devotion to regional theatre and her commitment to actors’ rights.” She said that Jill Freud “had the same lunch every day – a glass of red wine and a packet of crisps, and during Covid, aged 93, locked up with three other Freud gals, she took part in a tap class every morning. She continued, “She was 98, mother of five, grandmother of 17, great-grandmother of seven – she was feisty, outrageous, kind, loving and mischievous. Lucky old heaven getting such a dazzling newcomer.”Lady Jill Freud was born June Flewett in London in 1927. She began her career as a housekeeper at the Kilns, which is the home CS Lewis shared with his family. Back in 2005, she spoke to the Daily Telegraph about the first time she met the author, regarding it as “something momentous” and confessed to a “schoolgirl crush” on him. “He looked like a ruddy-cheeked farmer: heavy jowls, stick, tweeds, big shoes, labrador, tall – well, tall to me. I thought he was wonderful.”In a letter to Jill Freud's mother, the author once penned in 1945: “I have never really met anything like her unselfishness and patience and kindness and shall feel deeply in her debt as long as I live.” She once told the Hollywood Reporter of learning that she inspired the character Lucy: “I was absolutely thrilled. It’s like being told you were the real Lady Macbeth! It's years since I read it, but in the stage version I saw a few years ago, Lucy was very likeable – it was quite flattering." The Independent has reported that Flewett had an illustrious career, having credits across both the stage and the big screen. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and following her graduation, adopted the moniker Jill Raymond. The Independent has reported that it was Lewis who paid her fees to train at RADA. She eventually became Jill Freud when she married Clement Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, in 1950. She welcomed five children with the broadcaster-turned-Liberal MP. However, he died in 2009 at the age of 84. Tributes have come pouring in for Jill Freud. Fellow actress Giovanna Fletcher said: "Your beautiful mum. I auditioned for her after I left drama school. We were at hers and I remember seeing all the pictures on the wall of family members together and thinking that she was surrounded by love. She always was and always will be. Thinking of you and sending you so much love!" Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.