Lady Meyer Struggles for Parental Rights

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 2, 2000 | by Timothy W. Maier

Insight: Meanwhile, some parents whose children have been kidnapped have given up on finding a government solution. They have hired Rambo-like groups to free their children by extraordinary means. Why haven't you done that?

CM: My own mother has thought of that quite a lot, actually. But I didn't do it probably because of my education, and I thought to myself, "I'm in the right, and the Lord's there to protect me." Also I believed in the legal system.

When you start realizing that the system isn't working very well the thought may come into your mind to try to rescue your children in a Rambo escapade. But for most of us that is just fantasy. Of course, I've been approached by people with harebrained schemes. You know, my story would be published in the newspaper and someone would phone, saying, "Oh, I can help you. Come and meet me," or whatever. You're in despair, so you meet them. That's when you realize they are trying to get you to hire them to kidnap your children by force. I've always been against that. I'm opposed to it because there's a very high risk of children getting hurt.

Later, I found out that two bodyguards were used to take my boys back and forth to school. So the proposed heroics would not have been successful. If I had done it, how would I live in London? For instance, how could my children go to school without being re-abducted? And so the children would be grabbed back and forth. I know of cases where children have been abducted and re-abducted umpteen times.

I now look to the Lord, you know, to protect my children. I want very little -- essentially, access to them. I want to be able to see them on holidays, if nothing else.

Insight: If you could tell your sons just one thing, what would it be?

CM: That I love them, haven't abandoned them and that anytime they want to talk to me I'm always available to talk and to answer their questions.

Personal Bio

Lady Catherine Meyer: Still fighting for return of her sons.

Personal: Married to Christopher Meyer, the British ambassador to the United States. Born in Germany, Jan. 26, 1953. Carries both British and French passports. Educated in London at the French Lycee and received her B.A. from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Speaks five languages.

Currently: Actively involved with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other organizations with which she lobbies for laws against child abduction.

Work history: Joined E.F. Hutton in 1980 and became one of the firm's top producers. In 1984, she represented distinguished Russian artist Alexander Zaitsev and organized exhibitions of his paintings. In 1994, gave up her career when her boys were abducted by her former husband and has dedicated her life to fighting for her rights as a mother.

Favorite books: Climats by Audre Maurois and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.