Del Boy never marries. He has had many girlfriends, a fact that is the subject of numerous sarcastic comments by Rodney. He finally meets his partner Raquel Turner (whom he calls his "significant other") in the 1988 special "Dates". Del's mother Joan dies on 12 March 1964, apparently after a long string of illnesses. His lazy father Reginald leaves three months later (on Del's 16th birthday), taking most of their money and even Del's birthday cake. This leaves the teenage Del as the family's sole breadwinner, looking after his grandfather and Rodney, his half-brother who was born around thirteen years after him
Three Men, a Woman and a Baby another hangover, and Albert tells him that Raquel is in the late stages of pregnancy, and Del Boy will soon become a father. As Rodney and Albert talk about the baby being either a boy or a girl, Raquel enters, soon followed by Del, who is carrying a large cardboard box with its printing on the side reading "Crowning Glory, wigs of distinction", which he acquired from Mustapha from the Bangladeshi butcher's shop. Del then reminds Rodney that he's taking Cassandra to Hampton Court that afternoon. Later that day, at the Nag's Head, there is a contest to guess what