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Family affairs

Love Actually writer reveals what REALLY happened to Harry and Karen’s relationship after the affair

IT never quite feels like Christmas until you’ve curled up on the sofa with a hot cuppa and a festive film - and one of the most-loved choices has got to be Love Actually.

Since the film was released in 2003, fans have been left guessing what could have happened to the characters if the storyline continued.

 The sad storyline gets everyone blubbing over Christmas - but were the characters doomed after the affair?
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The sad storyline gets everyone blubbing over Christmas - but were the characters doomed after the affair?Credit: Alamy

One of the biggest talking points is Harry and Karen’s relationship.

People wonder whether the characters, played by Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, were ever able to repair their relationship.

In the film, Harry is caught up in a flirtation with his secretary Mia.

But his wife Karen soon catches wind of their relationship when Harry makes the mistake of buying his mistress a gold necklace for Christmas.

We all remember the heart-breaking moment after the school play when Emma Thompson confronted her unfaithful husband.

The words still ring in our ears as the tears roll down our cheeks: “Would you wait around to find out if it’s just a necklace, or if it’s sex and a necklace, or if, worst of all, it’s a necklace and… Would you stay, knowing life would always be a little bit worse?”

Well last year during a screening of the film, script writer Richard Curtis’ wife Emma Freud, who was script editor on the film, answered the question we have all been asking: Was it just a necklace?

Unfortunately not. When asked if the affair had actually happened she said: “DEFINITELY had an affair.  I begged Richard just to make it a flirtation, but no.  the whole way. [sic]”

 The scriptwriter confessed that the family's lives were changed forever following the affair
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The scriptwriter confessed that the family's lives were changed forever following the affairCredit: Universal Pictures

And if that wasn’t tear-jerking enough, Emma also revealed that the pair’s relationship was left damaged forever.

She told a fan: "They stay together but home isn't as happy as it once was."

Thought this was a startling revelation? Here are seven more things you never knew about Love Actually.