Miriam Margolyes registered as disabled as she reveals her health is deteriorating

Miriam Margolyes attends the UK Premiere of The Carer in August 2016. Photo / Getty Images

The Harry Potter actress revealed she ‘can’t walk very well’ and has been registered as disabled as she talks publicly about her health, wellbeing and ageing.

Miriam Margolyes has been registered as disabled.

The Harry Potter actress, 83, admitted she is struggling to walk as she gave an update on her health, in which she also confessed she regrets not making serious life changes after undergoing an operation in 2023 that saw her have a transcatheter aortic valve replacement to avoid more invasive open-heart surgery.

She told Closer about how she is suffering spinal stenosis – a condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves: “I can’t walk very well, and I’m registered disabled, so I use all kinds of assistance.

“I’ve got two sticks and a walker and they’re such a bore, but I’ve just got a mobility scooter, which is a lot of fun.”

In her interview, Margolyes said she wished she had been able to conquer her weight problem and considers not doing so a defeat.

She previously told the How to Fail podcast: “I am a blubber mass. I am fat. And to be fat and 82 is truly pathetic.”

Margolyes has also shared her fears about ageing and said she is scared she will not be afford carers to look after her as her health deteriorates.

Miriam Margoyles speaks with Queen Camilla as they attend a reception at the Queen's reading room literary festival in London on June 8. Photo / Getty Images

She told Radio Times: “I’m worried that I won’t have enough money for carers when I finally get paralysed, or whatever it is that’s going to happen to me.”

Margolyes is now focusing on saving cash to provide for her and her partner Heather, whom she has been with since 1968.

She has a payday coming from fronting a new series of BBC Two’s Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure and makes videos for fans on the Cameo website, where she charges £100 for a special greeting clip.

She estimates it has netted her £365,000 ($793,922) since 2020, and in 2023 she earned £250,000 ($543,783) for her memoir Oh Miriam!