Sir Patrick Stewart recalls 'horrifying' family abuse

Sir Patrick Stewart has recalled the "horrifying" abuse his mother suffered at the hands of his father.

The Star Trek legend has opened up about his unhappy home life when he was a child revealing his dad Alfred used to beat his mum Gladys in front of their sons, who would attempt to shield her from the blows.

In a new interview for ITV documentary 'Her Majesty: Behind Closed Doors' which follows Queen Camilla's work with domestic violence campaigners and victims, Sir Patrick said: "The war ended in 1945 so I was by the time my father came home, I was six years old, and it was horrifying.

"The shouting was so loud because he had a huge voice. I would scream at my father to stop when he hit my mother and hit her again and again."

Sir Patrick went on to add he and his brother Trevor attempted to protect their mum but she didn't want their help.

He said: "My brother and I, we became experts at understanding where the shouting was going, what it was going to lead to, and we always knew the moment that the violence was going to begin.

"So with that, we would push open the door and burst into the room, and my brother, Trevor, who was taller than me, would force himself between my father and my mother so that he couldn't reach her and she would shout out, no, no, no, please. You don't have to protect me."

He went on to reveal that after becoming a successful actor, he offered to buy Gladys a house to help her get away from her husband, but she turned him down and the movie star realised "she would never leave him".

Alfred was a decorated veteran after serving in World War II and Sir Patrick believes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have caused his violent outbursts.

His mother died in 1977.