Anna Soderstrom, Terry Jones’ Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

anna soderstrom terry jones wife

Getty/Twitter Anna Soderstrom was the wife of comedian Terry Jones.

Anna Soderstrom was the wife of “Monty Python” founding member Terry Jones. The Welsh comedian died at age 77 on January 21, 2020, after a long battle with a rare form of dementia. Soderstrom, 36, and Jones married in 2012 and they have a young daughter, Siri. He was previously married to Alison Telfer for 42 years and he had two children with his first wife.

Soderstrom, who is Swedish, and Jones met when she came to England in 2002 to study modern languages at Oxford’s Hereford College, according to Wales Online. Jones also studied at Oxford.

Jones’ family issued a statement after his death saying, “We are deeply saddened to have to announce the passing of beloved husband and father, Terry Jones. Terry passed away on the evening of 21 January 2020 at the age of 77 with his wife Anna Soderstrom by his side after a long, extremely brave but always good-humored battle with a rare form of dementia, FTD.” Along with Soderstrom, Jones is survived by his daughters, Sally and Siri, and son, Bill.

Here’s what you need to know about Anna Soderstrom, Terry Jones’ wife:


1. Anna Soderstrom Was Born in Sweden & She Taught Herself to Knit, Eventually Becoming a Designer, While Pregnant With Her Daughter

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Anna Soderstrom was born in Sweden and came to England to study at Oxford. She works as a knitwear designer, creating products inspired by her Swedish and Scandanavian culture. The products are designed and made in London. Soderstrom taught herself to knit while she was pregnant with her and Terry Jones’ daughter, Siri, she told House & Garden.

Soderstrom and her company create scarves, wraps, pashminas, beanies, blankets and other products. She told House & Garden, “When I was pregnant with my daughter, I suffered terribly with morning sickness. It was really awful. I couldn’t do anything, even read.” The magazine wrote:

Salvation came in the form of a thoughtful friend bearing knitting needles and yarn. This meditative activity soothed Anna through more than 20 nauseous weeks, and provided an occupation for the remainder of her pregnancy. By the time Siri, now five, was born, Anna had taught herself to knit, and she was designing her own patterns using just a pencil and graph paper.

Soderstrom told Home & Garden, “The type of thing I wanted didn’t seem to exist, so I decided to invent it.” She said she was inspired by the traditional knitwear of Gotland, a Swedish island where she spent summers growing up. Soderstrom told the magazine, “Sweden is known for ornate designs like the snowflake, and I like to incorporate these traditional motifs into my style, which is more minimal.”

She told The Huffington Post in 2012, “I awake at 7 a.m. and begin work. I’ve made all these shawls, scarves, hats and wrist warmers you see at home. I source the yarn from around the UK, because I think it’s important to use home grown materials, but I do use the occasional yarn that is sourced from abroad.”

According to her website, “Each nature-inspired piece is handcrafted in London using a combination of hand and machine knitting techniques. The brand philosophy is simple: slow down and take the time to make something beautiful.”


2. Soderstrom & Terry Jones Dated for 5 Years While He Was Still in His ‘Open Marriage’ With Telfer & They Were Secretly Married After His Divorce

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Anna Soderstrom and Terry Jones dated for more than five years while he was still married to his first wife, Alison Telfer. Jones and Telfer had an open marriage, according to Wales Online. They met at a book signing in Oxford, where she was a student, according to The Telegraph.

Soderstrom and Jones had their daughter, Siri, together in 2009. After Jones and Telfer divorced in 2012, he and Soderstrom secretly got married. Only neighbors and their daughter were present at the wedding at London’s Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, according to The Telegraph. He said they wanted to keep the wedding away from the press.

They went on a honeymoon to Paris, but it was interrupted when a burglar broke into their hotel room, Jones told The Telegraph. “The other hotel we moved into upped our room because they said, ‘We don’t want you to think all hotels are going to be burgled. There was somebody in the room when we came back from dinner. Anna said she saw a hand disappearing through the toilet door so they must have been in the room as we went back in and they must have hidden in the loo.”

He told BBC News about having a child at an older age, “I don’t think people who have children are acting selfishly or unselfishly. Having a child who’ll be loved, to parents who love each other, is the important thing.”

The couple and their daughter lived together in Highgate, north London.


3. Anna Soderstrom’s Father, a Surgeon, Said He Was ‘Very Fond’ of Jones & Was a ‘Monty Python’ Fan, Adding ‘I Have No Opinion on the Age Difference. Relationships Aren’t About That’

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Anna Soderstrom’s father, Torbjorn Soderstrom, a surgeon in their native Sweden, told The Daily Mail in 2013 that he supported the relationship and marriage. “I’ve never been against it in any sort of way,” the elder Soderstrom told The Daily Mail. “I’m very fond of Terry. I’ve been a Monty Python fan since I was a kid. I have no opinion on the age difference. Relationships are not about that.”

Soderstrom’s friend from Oxford told The Daily Mail that she was “quiet and unassuming.” Soderstrom, who was a member of a belly dancing group while at Oxford, was described by her friend to the British tabloid, “If anything, she fancies herself as something of an intellectual and keeps herself to herself. She is not an obvious sex symbol.”


4. Soderstrom & Telfer Both Helped Take Care of Jones as His Health Declined

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Despite their divorce, Alison Telfer, a biochemist, stayed in Jones’ life and was one of his caretakers, along with Soderstrom and his children, as his health declined, according to The Times of London. Jones was diagnosed in 2015 with primary progressive aphasia, a rare form of frontotemporal dementia. By 2017, his health had severely declined and it continued to do so until his death. The disease cost him the ability to speak.

“One weekend every couple of weeks, Dr Telfer finds herself caring for her ex-husband at her home in south London, cooking for him, taking him swimming, and going for walks with him. He loves his walks,” The Times’ Valentine Low wrote in 2017. “That two people shared so much, underwent the pain of divorce and now find themselves reforging a different bond is a phenomenon borne out of the extraordinary pressures that dementia puts on families. It is, Dr Telfer and her family accept, slightly odd: but it is no bad thing either.”

Sally Jones told The Times, “I was very aware at the beginning that we were asking a lot of Mum. And I made sure she was OK with it. We had a bit of a tester the first time to see how it went. I think you just had to create a new relationship with him and in a way it is good because it has reignited an old friendship.”

According to a September 2019 article, Jones had stopped recognizing his Monty Python co-stars. “The last time I saw him I don’t think he recognized me. We knew each other well. It feels like a part of yourself isn’t there any more,” Michael Palin told The Telegraph.


5. After Her Husband’s Death, Anna Soderstrom Posted a Photo on Twitter of Her With Jones & Their Daughter & Wrote ‘Happier Times. RIP My Love’

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Anna Soderstrom paid tribute to her husband after his death with a post on Twitter. She tweeted a photo of her with Jones and their daughter, Siri, and wrote, “Happier times. RIP my love.”

The Jones’ family said in a statement, “Over the past few days his wife, children, extended family and many close friends have been constantly with Terry as he gently slipped away at his home in north London. We have all lost a kind, funny, warm, creative and truly loving man whose uncompromising individuality, relentless intellect and extraordinary humor has given pleasure to countless millions across six decades. His work with Monty Python, his books, films, television programs, poems and other work will live on forever, a fitting legacy to a true polymath.

“We, his wife Anna, children Bill, Sally, Siri and extended family would like to thank Terry’s wonderful medical professionals and carers for making the past few years not only bearable but often joyful. We hope that this disease will one day be eradicated entirely,” the family statement concluded. “We ask that our privacy be respected at this sensitive time and give thanks that we lived in the presence of an extraordinarily talented, playful and happy man living a truly authentic life, in his words ‘Lovingly frosted with glucose.”

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