Sienna Miller recalls the 'completely traumatic' experience of being packed off to pricey boarding school at the age of eight following her parents' divorce

Sienna Miller has recalled the 'traumatic' experience of being packed off to boarding school following her parents' divorce.  

The actress, 42, was just eight when her American art dealer father Edwin and former model mother Josephine split and she was sent to the £42,489-per-year all-girls Heathfield in Ascot.

The swanky school boasts a swimming pool and sprawling grounds with fellow famous alumni including model Amber Le Bon, socialite Daphne Guinness and TV star Susannah Constantine.

Speaking on Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, Sienna said: ‘I was tiny, and it was too young, It was, on paper, a really idyllic-looking place. It was a manor house and there were only 52 girls.

‘But that first night you’re in a room with ten girls you’ve never met, in metal beds with tweed blankets over the top, and it’s lights out at seven. It’s traumatic, it’s completely traumatic'.

The mother-of-two also said it was far from the gilded life when it came to the school’s meals: ‘They used to feed us Spam on Tuesdays and you’d have to finish your plate, you’d have to eat everything.

‘I remember sticking it in my pockets and finding dried bits of Spam in my pocket – which was lovely.’ 

Edwin and Jo are also parents to Savannah, 45, while he is father to sons Stephen and Charles and as well as daughter Natasha from previous relationships. 

In 2023 fashion designer Savannah revealed her beloved father was battling Alzheimer's disease. 

Taking to Instagram alongside a picture of  former art dealer Edwin, she shared a heartfelt Instagram post, stating that she 'missed him beyond description.' 

She penned: 'here he is.. my papa, the man with the deepest heart, wisest words and the most incredible hug giver to ever live. I miss him beyond description.

'As his Alzheimer’s progresses and he slowly withdraws from the world, my heart aches for this man. His hugs are still as deep, thank God, but the life and spark, that was all pervading, has gone out.' 

She concluded: 'It is such a cruel and complicated thing to navigate. Sending love to everyone for whom today is hard. #fathersday #alzheimers.' 

The Miller children have been rallying around their father as he battles dementia. 

Earlier the same year Sienna joined her sister joined bridal wear designer Savannah, 44, in New York, where they huddled round their father alongside their brothers.

'For the first time in six years, we're all together with our dad,' Savannah penned. 'A lot has changed in that time, with his declining health, but at the same time nothing at all. 

'Love feels the same, as deep and true as it ever did. We may be oceans apart but our love for each other and our papa transcends it all.

'In these very real moments, I am reminded, gracefully, what it is all about. Love and human connection is all we ever truly have and I am deeply grateful for the love and connection I have with these four remarkable human beings, my family.

Following his divorce Edwin went on to marry British interior designer Kelly Hoppen, who said she will also see Sienna as her step daughter, despite no longer being married to her father.

The couple split in 2003 and the 64-year-old said she hates being referred to as the former stepmother of Sienna and Savannah. 

Earlier this year Kelly explained: 'I've never understood when people say Sienna's ex-stepmother because if you love a child and you are there for a majority of their childhood, you don't just switch that off.

'Ed and I parted on good terms and Savannah calls me Mama K and Sienna calls me Celtic Wizard — we have nicknames for each other.'

Discussing how attitudes to 'blended families' were different in the nineties, Kelly added: 'You've got to remember I'm 64 and being stepmum to them was not normal back then – these kinds of extended families.

'When I used to stand at the school gates, I was frowned upon like I was the other woman, and it was tough for me.'

Kelly, who has one biological daughter, food writer Natasha Corrett says: 'If I didn't have Sienna or Savannah, I would have felt cheated that I didn't have another child.'

Speaking of her relationship with Savannah and Sienna in Mail on Sunday's YOU magazine in 2020, Kelly said: 'She [Savannah] and her (actress) sister Sienna are and will always remain two of the most precious people in my life – even though I have been divorced from their father Edwin for 17 years.

'She calls me Mama K and I call her Sasa. She and Sienna always send me cards and flowers on Mother's Day, which really touches my heart.'