Lily Allen is back making music after raising her two daughters, whom she previously joked had "ruined her career". The star shares her daughters with ex-husband Sam Cooper, and the family has endured a big change in recent months following Lily's acrimonious split from her second husband, David Harbour.
Speaking about her children's impact on her career during an interview with The Radio Times in 2024, she shared: "I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they totally ruined it." She explained further that she put her music career on the backburner in order to focus on raising her children following her own parents being "absent" from her childhood.
Lily concluded by saying she was glad to have made the decision to put her children first. "Some people choose their career over their children, and that's their prerogative," she told the publication. "But my parents were quite absent when I was a kid, and I feel like that really left some nasty scars that I'm not willing to, you know, repeat on mine. So I chose stepping back and concentrating on them and I’m glad that I have done that because I think they're pretty well-rounded people."
Read on to find out everything you ned to know about Lily's two daughters…
Ethel Mary, 14
© ANGELA WEISSBorn on 25 November 2011, Ethel is Lily's first child. The Not Fair hitmaker was pregnant with her daughter when she walked down the aisle with Sam Cooper in 2011.
She was born with laryngomalacia, a rare throat condition that made it incredibly difficult for her to breathe and feed. Opening up about the stressful time in her life. Lily previously said: “My oldest kid was quite sick. She had two operations in the first two months. And then she was tube-fed until she was about seven months old. And as her mum and especially what had happened to me in the past, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. It was mentally exhausting. Then she couldn’t gain weight. I just felt exhausted."
Ethel has since been seen with her mum on several occasions, but in a 2024 interview, the star revealed they don't fly together, with Lily being in first class while Ethel is in economy.
Marnie Rose, 13
© Richard Young/ShutterstockBorn on 8 January 2013, Marnie is Lily's second daughter and like her older sister, she has been seen with her famous mum on many occasions. Lily recently opened up about the impact her split from husband David Harbour has had on the children's live, revealing that they've seamlessly adapted to big changes.
Speaking on her podcast Miss Me?, she said: "My kids are [expletive] mental at the moment. They are really developing their personalities. It's just a lot. There's a lot of questions. There's a lot of change in our lives at the moment. We've changed houses, we've changed countries, we've changed schools, and it's a lot... The last five years, I've been a stay-at-home mum. And now I'm a single mum that has to work and suddenly has a lot of work opportunities on my plate and I'm having to travel a lot."
She also revealed that the girls were reaping the benefits of their mum being famous, adding: "But they also like having a nice roof over their heads and nice clothes and being able to go to nice restaurants and things," she added. "So they understand it. But it's just a lot of change. There's a lot of change and also new friends, new friendship grounds and the idea of boyfriends."
Heartbreaking stillbirth
Before having her daughters, the singer tragically had a stillbirth in October 2011, and the incident remained with Lily; she revealed in 2017 that she had been diagnosed with PTSD following the stillbirth.
In a candid conversation with Dame Jenni Murray on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Lily said: "The hardest thing about that was losing a child, but there were complications with the actual delivery. He was so small he actually got stuck halfway in and halfway out, so to speak, during the delivery," before adding: "I went into trauma and I don’t think I’ll ever really recover from that."
Discussing the heartbreak during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, Lily said: "I think it's difficult for anybody regardless of what world they live in, and actually what I took home from that experience was… Even though it was the most unfortunate thing that can ever happen to a person, I was fortunate in the sense that I have a loving partner to go home to and share that experience with."
© Michael Simon/ShutterstockLily's split from David Harbour
Lily and Sam didn't go the distance and the pair split in 2015 after Lily admitted to being unfaithful. The duo officially divorced in 2018 and share custody of their children. In 2019, Lily began dating Stranger Things star David Harbour, and it turns out that her daughters were behind David's idea to propose to her. Revealing the moment, he explained: "The little one was riding along and she was going like, 'David, dad, David, dad.' Because the D got her confused. And the older one got very upset with that, which I understand. She was like, 'He's not our dad! He's not our dad!'
"And then younger one was like, 'Well what is he? He's kind of our dad.' She's like, 'No he's not, he's our stepdad.' And she goes, 'What is he?' And she goes, 'He's just some guy in our lives!'" He joked the moment convinced him to pop the question to Lily to avoid further confusion from the duo.
Speculation about Lily and David's marriage started in December 2024 after the singer was reportedly seen on celebrity dating app, Raya. People reported in February that the couple had split, and Lily confirmed the news herself last month with the release of her West End Girl album, which the star said was based on her relationship with the actor. When asked by British Vogue whether David would continue being a stepfather to her daughters, she curtly responded: "You'll have to ask him."
Just this week, David Harbour finally broke his silence regarding the viral allegations present on his ex-wife's latest album. The record pulls no punches about the demise of their five-year marriage, with songs detailing alleged infidelity, emotional distance, and intimate disconnect.
Addressing the fallout, Harbour candidly admitted to Variety that the experience was "weird," but ultimately took the high road. "I believe that it is the privilege of every artist to use their experience to create art, and so I respect her for doing that."
