Warwick Davis was supported by a mystery woman as he accepted his OBE from The Prince Of Wales on Wednesday, after crediting a person known as ‘Sponge’ for ‘helping him to love again’ following his wife’s death.
The Harry Potter star, 56, was also joined by his daughter Annabelle, 28, and son Harrison, 23, as he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama and charity.
Arriving for the ceremony, Warwick was seen conversing with Prince William as he accepted the honour, with his mystery woman and his children watching on.
Warwick shares his two children with his late wife Samantha, who died in 2024 as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications from an essential surgery.
Last year, the star paid tribute to a mystery woman for helping him to ‘love again’, but has only referred to her as ‘Sponge’.
Speaking during his acceptance speech, after being awarded with the BAFTAFellowship last year, he said: ‘Special mention should go to Sponge, you know who you are.’
He added: ‘Thank you for showing me that life can still have meaning and for helping me to laugh and to love again.’
Asked about the identity of ‘Sponge’ last year, Warwick said on The Jonathan Ross Show: ‘I can reveal, sticking with the Harry Potter theme, Sponge is indeed She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.’
Referring to Daisy May Cooper’s character, Kerry Mucklowe, from comedy series This Country, Warwick adds: ‘Sponge very much reminds me of Kerry. Some of the things she says and her accent.’
Warwick also spoke about his emotional tribute to his late wife Samantha during his acceptance speech, saying: ‘When you go through your career as an actor, you sometimes become a bit reluctant to do certain jobs thinking another one will come along and be a bit better.
‘She would always say “get out there and do it”. She was great at networking as well, always talking to producers and getting me the work in the next job. Very supportive. You need that in this business because it is difficult. You’ve got to have someone who is very supportive of you being away on occasions and working ridiculous hours.’
Warwick added: ‘Acting is quite a lonely career, really. You need a solid foundation at home to support that and make it work.’
Warwick’s late wife Samantha Davis, who was also an actress, died aged 53 at University College Hospital in London on March 24, 2024.
An inquest into her death concluded that she died as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications from an essential surgery.
She fell ill with sepsis in 2019 which led to intensive care treatment. This followed operations on her spine that were undertaken at University College London Hospital.
Warwick dedicated his BAFTA Film Fellowship Award to his late wife during an emotional tribute at the ceremony.
He said: ‘Above all I would like to dedicate and thank my wonderful wife Sammy who died almost a year ago. She was always so supportive of my career and encouraged me to grab every opportunity with both hands.’
His children were both seen crying in the audience as their dad thanked them helping him get through the tough year.
He said: ‘Since then, life has been pretty tough for me but thanks to the support of our wonderful children Annabelle and Harrison, I’ve been able to continue working and engaging in life.’
The couple met during the filming of 1988 fantasy movie Willow, in which he had a starring role as the hero Willow Ufgood. They married in 1991.
Alongside their daughter Annabelle and son Harrison, Warwick and Samantha also had a third child, however he tragically died nine days after being born.
Warwick said in 2022 that he would not wish the ‘devastating’ experience of losing their son on anyone and added: ‘You never get over it.’
Samantha was then struck down with sepsis, five years before her death, with Warwick keeping vigil at her hospital bedside as she fought for her life.
Their family had been gearing up for a caravan holiday in 2019 when she suddenly fell ill with a mystery condition, something she put down to stress.
However, she became gravely unwell and left on the brink of death before thankfully making a remarkable recovery.
Samantha then tragically died in 2024, with Warwick releasing a touching statement where he said her passing had ‘left a huge hole in our lives’ and paid tribute to his ‘favourite human’.
He described Sammy, as he called her, as his ‘most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career’.
The Star Wars actor said he felt like he could achieve anything with his wife by his side and that it felt like he had a ‘superpower’.
‘She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life she had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes,’ Warwick said in a statement given to the BBC.
Following the inquest into Samantha’s death, Senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox ruled her cause of death as ‘arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies’.
Warwick, who recently received an OBE for services to drama and charity, praised his late wife Samantha as ‘an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career’
The star, seen here conversing with Prince William, co-founded the charity Little People UK in 2012 with his late wife, to support people with dwarfism and their families
Best known for his role as Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter, Warwick confirmed he will return to the world of wizardry for the new Harry Potter series reboot
She explained that she had achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, which was ‘complicated by very severe spinal problems’ and had required multiple surgeries since 2016.
She also praised the care given by hospital staff, telling the court, the hospital delivered ‘nothing but excellent care’ and all of Samantha’s ‘complications were appropriately managed’.
She said: ‘I am satisfied that the medical cause of death should be arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies.
‘In my view, the stress of everything together has precipitated this arrhythmic cardiac arrest in a lady who was not known to have any previous arrhythmia problems.’
Prof Wilcox added: ‘I have found nothing but excellent care being delivered to this lady and all of her complications were appropriately managed.
‘It is frankly heartbreaking that the surgery itself was successful only for complications to arise and to cause her death.’
David Lawrence, a cardiothoracic surgeon at University College London Hospitals, said Samantha’s recovery had been going well and that she had stable readings.
He told the inquest: ‘Very sadly, on the night this happened, the original plan had been that she would be discharged home the following day.
‘We had good evidence that this patient had a chest x-ray that was acceptable, very stable observations and this patient did not bleed during the day.’
During her stay, two surgical chest drains had been removed — the second of which came out on the very same day she died.