Edward Downes "serious health problems" suffered by the couple. A statement issued by the couple's children said that while Downes could have gone on living with his deafness and blindness, he did not want to do so after his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In March 2010, Keir Starmer (director of public prosecutions) stated that Caractacus Downes would not be prosecuted for his involvement with his parents' assisted suicide because it was not in the public interest. Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was
Joan Champernowne Joan Champernowne Joan Champernowne (died 1553) was a lady-in-waiting at the court of King Henry VIII of England. She became a close friend to his sixth wife, Queen Catherine Parr. She married Sir Anthony Denny, who at the end of King Henry's reign was widely considered to be his most trusted servant. Joan was born in Modbury, Devon on an unknown date, but no later than 1513, the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne and his wife, K(C)atherine Carew. She married Sir Anthony Denny, son of Sir Edmund Denny, by whom she had twelve children, including: Joan was considered to be