Her sister is called Pricilla. The family used to call her Prick. When at university, she would introduce her sister, not realising what was funny. When she found out, they stopped calling her Prick.
She has three children: Emily (born 1978), Daniel (born 1980) and Rebecca Wilcox (born 1981).
Suffered from amoebic dysentery from a bug she picked up in
Zimbabwe. (1999)
Her daughter Emily was diagnosed with ME (chronic fatigue
syndrome) in 1992 after getting glandular fever and took around 12 years to fully recover. (2000)
She met her husband Desmond Wilcox in 1968 but did not marry until ten
years later.
Re-married her husband Desmond Wilcox. (1999)
She studied at and graduated from Somerville College (Oxford
University) and her daughter Rebecca is doing the same.
She was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire)in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services as a ChildLine Founder.
She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1991 Queen's Honours List for her services to Television Broadcasting.
She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to children and older people through ChildLine and The Silver Line.