Michael Palin, 80, discusses the ‘great emptiness’ he feels following the tragic death of beloved wife Helen after 57 years of marriage

Michael Palin has opened up about the ‘great void’ left by his beloved wife Helen after her tragic death in May.

The actor, 80, sadly lost his partner after a brave battle with chronic pain and kidney failure just weeks after their 57th wedding anniversary.

Speak with The times he said, “When someone is gone, someone who has been such a big part of your life for the past sixty years, you can’t believe that person isn’t there to enjoy a joke, or an observation, or a b**** about someone.

Adding: ‘A great kind of emptiness comes in’.

He also shared in the publication how his wife had decided to give up dialysis after relying on a procedure to stay alive amid kidney failure.

RIP: The actor sadly lost his partner after a courageous battle with chronic pain and kidney failure, just weeks after their 57th wedding anniversary (pictured together in 2015)

Saying: The last ten days of her life – I have never seen her so happy. She had accepted it, we had accepted it, she was in a beautiful hospice. The children and grandchildren had all come to see her, so her death was a great liberation for her.’

According to the NHS Dialysis is a procedure to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly.

Michael and Helen were childhood sweethearts and shared children Thomas, 54, William, 52, and Rachel, 48, as well as four grandchildren.

Announcing the sad news, the Monty Python star branded his wife “the foundation of my life” and said her death was an “indescribable loss” for himself and their children.

The Monty Python star told how Helen had suffered from chronic pain for a few years and was diagnosed with kidney failure before her death.

The childhood sweethearts met when they were 16 and married in 1966, on their 57th wedding anniversary, weeks before Helen died.

Michael announced the news on his blog, sharing a selfie of them together and writing: ‘My dearest wife Helen passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

‘She had suffered from chronic pain for several years, which was exacerbated by a diagnosis of kidney failure a few years ago.

Poor health: He also shared in the publication how his wife had decided to give up dialysis after relying on a procedure to stay alive amid kidney failure (pictured together in 2005)

Soulmates: Michael and Helen married in 1966, in their early twenties, after dating for six years

‘We first met on a summer holiday on the Suffolk coast when we were both sixteen and married in our early twenties. Two and a half weeks ago we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary.

‘Her death is an indescribable loss for myself, our three children and four grandchildren.

‘Helen was the foundation of my life. Her quiet wise judgment informed all my decisions and her humor and practical common sense were the core of our life together. The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.”

Last September, Michael spoke about Helen’s ill health when he revealed she had been moved into respite care from the home they had shared for 50 years.

He explained that she was not responding to medications for her chronic pain, saying they were put on her to help her manage her symptoms.

During their 57-year marriage, the childhood sweethearts had three children together: Thomas, 54, William, 52, and Rachel, 48 (photo in 1980)

The couple (pictured in 1989) met when they were just 16 years old and celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary just weeks before Helen’s death.

The comedian told the Telegraph at the time: ‘I don’t think you can cure it, but they will help her cope.

‘It’s so boring. She was so active and still is mentally. But the body deteriorates. We live with our fingers crossed.”

Michael and Helen met as teenagers when they were both on summer holiday in Southwold, Suffolk, staying with their families in neighboring cottages.

He described Helen as having a ‘vision of rebellion’ when he first met her and admitted their romance quickly blossomed, according to The Telegraph.

Michael was living in Sheffield at the time while Helen was in Cambridgeshire, but the pair kept in touch by writing letters and met again the following summer.

They were then reunited on Michael’s first day at Oxford University, where Helen was visiting her friend for the weekend, and fate brought them back together.

Reflecting on the reunion, Michael said, “You can see that fate was screwing us very hard at the time.”