Who is Miriam Margolyes’ partner Heather Sutherland? As star makes appearance on cover of Vogue

Miriam Margolyes is a well-known face across the country, starring in popular movies and talk shows, where she often confuses audiences.

Loved for her candor, the actress is known for her foul mouth; She once accidentally revealed her true thoughts about Jeremy Hunt on a BBC Radio 4 programme, saying ‘f*** you, you b*****d’.

She’s the current face of Vogue’s Pride Month issue, gracing the cover with a dazzling nude photoshoot and sharing details about her life in an interview.

It seems that no question is off limits for Margolyes and she is willing to share anything about her sex life. The actress once boldly revealed that she does not keep up with her ex-lovers and, frankly, could not achieve a figure.

But Margolyes said she prefers “quality over quantity” and has been in a long-term relationship for more than half a century.

So who is Miriam Margolyes’ partner? Here’s everything you need to know about Heather Sunderland and why they’ve stayed together for so long.

Who is Heather Sunderland?

Miriam is in a registered partnership with Heather Sunderland, who likes to stay out of the limelight.

Heather is an Australian historian and former professor at VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Heather first met Miriam in 1967 and the pair have been together ever since.

In Miriam’s 2021 autobiography, This Much Is True, she says of her partnership, “We’ve been together for 53 years. It’s a big achievement.

“An academic and scholar, Heather is my polar opposite: coy, incredibly private, and reserved.”

How did Miriam and Heather meet?

Miriam met Heather through a mutual friend while working on a BBC radio drama after Miriam graduated from Cambridge University.

Although she was aware of her sexuality, she did not come out to her parents until she met Heather.

After meeting Heather, Miriam went to visit her parents who live in Oxford to break the news to them. Her mother did not take the news well and soon after fell into ill health.

A few days after Miriam came out, she had a stroke, and in the following months she had more serious strokes – she died in 1974.

In her book, Miriam wrote, “I’ve always believed my coming out somehow caused it.

“It was a horrible time and I was very unhappy. I knew I couldn’t change what I was; I shouldn’t have told them.’

Do Miriam and Heather live together?

Despite being loved for decades, the pair have never lived together.

Miriam said the secret to their lasting relationship is “not living together,” according to the Express.

In her biography, she says, “We’ve probably lasted so long because we’ve always lived completely separate lives.”

She continues that although they speak on the phone every day, they normally only see each other about eight times a year and only live together on vacation.

In an interview for Vogue’s Pride issue, Miriam shared that neither of them had to compromise their goals to stay together and that they both went down different paths.

“We were able to live our lives without diminishing it,” Margolyes said. “I didn’t want her to have to give up anything. And I didn’t want to give up anything.

The pair traveled to London, Tuscany and Heather’s home country of Australia.

Miriam became an Australian citizen in 2013 and shares an Australian Southern Highlands vacation home with Heather, who rents them out when not in use.

Do they have children together?

Miriam and Heather have no children, which she says is rather happy because she finds them ‘difficult’.

In an interview on The Project, Miriam said she is not a fan of young people, despite her various work with children and children’s charities.

‘I don’t like children. I don’t want to be with children. I wish them well. Really and truly. I would kill anyone who hurt a child.”

“But I just don’t want them near me!”