Ex- Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman on son's alcohol battle

Ex- Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman on son's alcohol battle



Outgoing British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman has opened up about fears her son would die during a tough battle with alcohol.

The 59-year-old former magazine boss, who lives in Queen's Park, London, was so worried about Sam, 22, that she thought during his 'benders' things could have gone tragically too far.

'I kept imagining Sam as the beautiful boy, drunk and dancing on the rooftop... Crashing to the ground,' she recalls in The Sunday Times. 'I was terrified about that.'

Thankfully, after seeking professional help with the aid of his mother, Sam stopped drinking and hasn't touched alcohol for three years.



According to Alexandra - who announced she was leaving the fashion bible earlier this year and is set be replaced by artistic director Edward Enninful - Sam's problems stemmed from anxiety.

After having Sam at 37 with her ex-husband and Sam's father Paul Spike, they split when he was three-years-old.



The mother-of-one admits that she was worried how the split would affect them, but it wasn't until his teens that his anxiety surfaced - something which he believes he 'inherited' from his parents.

Alexandra, who also suffered with panic attacks herself, recognised that that his anxiety was becoming a problem and suspected it was being fuelled by alcohol consumption.



'There were no hidden bottles under the sink, he wasn’t vomiting all over the place...nothing like that.

'But when we did talk about it, I’d say things like, "How much did you have to drink last night? You know alcohol won’t help".'

Sam himself says, however, that he never had any issue with his parents splitting, in fact and that anxiety was his real issue.



It was not knowing about what he was anxious about that bothered him, but he was grateful for his mother's intervention, realising she only wanted to help.

He described the situation as 'the most difficult thing' they'd ever had to deal with, but that she did everything possible and found 'the right people' for him to speak to.

Alexandra, who is now with partner David Jenkins and has recently written an autobiography documenting the magazine's centenary year Inside Vogue, revealed Sam stopped drinking at university and hasn't touched alcohol for nearly three years.