Stephanie's manner is strong and positive, but some people have found her frosty, something she partly put down to being hard of hearing - she is completely deaf in one ear and has only about 40 per cent hearing in the other, so she can easily be distracted.

She used the money she earned from working in the U.S. on Dynasty wisely and bought a beach house in Malibu and another home in London. She loves being a mother to Phoebe, now 29, and Chloe, 27. She also now has a 4-year-old grandson, Jude. But she is not obsessed with glamour and hasn't has cosmetic surgery:

"The truth is, I might be tempted if I thought I could get away with it - if I made people think I looked as fabulous as Catherine Deneuve. But I think I would rather grow old disgracefully in a wrinkled way. Look at my hands. They're 57 years old. Look at my poor little elephant's knees. Unless I could go into some machine and get my whole body done, what's the point? My wisdom, brain, wit and being are in my 50s. Why on earth would I want a face that didn't match my body? A brilliant acid-washed facelift would mean I couldn't go in the sun or garden any more. And I could name a numbe rof people who have been profoundly unsuccessful at it."