I’ve apologised to my son, Thomas, for being absent for quite a lot of his first few years, but, as a working mother and breadwinner, I kind of had to be. I like to think I’ve made up for it.
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
To my father, who was aggressively indifferent to what I was doing. He did say sorry to me when he was dying and I don’t think I was very gracious.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 February 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 212 →My grandma, who died a few years ago, because I wasn’t able to see her on my last visit to Georgia.
Bill Bailey
Comedian and musician
My parents, for not pursuing an academic career.
Julia Ormond
English actress
To Sophie, for not being a better parent.
More from Richard Eyre
View profile →Isn’t it enough just to be remembered?
Edward Bond, the playwright, said I was like a turd flowing on the effluent of British culture.
At university in the 60s, I thought social justice was going to improve exponentially. How wrong I was.
In despair, because of my wife’s illness.
Warmth and confidence.
Curious, energetic, droll.
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 374 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 211 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 130 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 126 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 82 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 41 answers
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