Chris Packham
English naturalist
Fourteen. Dew-soaked plimsolls, flying my kestrel before school.
When were you happiest?
Question
How would you like to die?
Death & what remains
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
In the hospital giving birth to my second daughter with my first daughter right there in the room as it was happening. I don’t remember any pain. I just remember feeling more alive and full of fierce mama bear love than at any other point in my life.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, August 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
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Matt Smith
English actor
I believe happiness is in the moment, so now.
I was happiest in every aspect of my life in the 1990s, when I was married to Paddy [King, a management consultant] and we had the two children and my mum lived with us, and Countdown was the biggest show on Channel 4.
Josette Simon
British actor
I don’t have a happiest; I live in the now.
More from Audra McDonald
View profile →In my bed at home at a ripe old age with the knowledge that my children, and grandchildren if I have any, are thriving, happy, and provided for.
Balloons. I have a big phobia of balloons. Big.
If hoarding and procrastination were Olympic sports, I’d have at least 70 gold medals.
Being at home on a Sunday night with my husband, Will, and all of our children, eating chicken tikka masala and naan from our favorite restaurant.
Meghan Markle. I don’t know how she continues to walk through this world with the grace, strength, and purpose that she does given the unbearable amount of vitriol and hate she has been subjected to, but she does. I wish she didn’t have to.
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