Last picture of Dame Maggie Smith shows her as face of fashion campaign – as Harry Potter star dies aged 89

THE LAST picture of acting icon Dame Maggie Smith shows her smiling into the camera while starring in a fashion campaign.

Dame Maggie died on Friday morning aged 89 following a glittering career on screen, her sons have confirmed.

In a photo for a new Loewe fashion campaign, taken in October 2023 and shown in Vogue, she is seen smiling down the lens.

The Downton Abbey actress is wearing a giant fuzzy coat with Loewe’s “signature Puzzle bag”.

In other photos taken in the campaign shoot, Dame Maggie poses in a turtleneck dress and ruffled skirt while holding a Paseo bag.

It comes after a statement released by the family via their publicist said: “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith.

“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday September 27.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end.

“She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.

“We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”

The beloved actress played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film franchise.

Dame Maggie was also well-known for bringing her scathing wit to other roles, including as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey.

She won an Academy Award for her performance as The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.

The actress was born Margaret Natalie Smith in December 1934 in Ilford, Essex, to a Scottish secretary mum and pathologist dad.

The star moved to Oxford when she was four after her father got a job at the university and later left school to study acting at the Oxford Playhouse.

But her family background gave no indication she would enter the acting profession, let alone become one of its leading exponents.

Aged just 17, Maggie got her first role as Viola in Twelfth Night before appearing in Cinderella, Rookery Nook and The Government Inspector.

In 1957, she landed a role opposite Kenneth Williams in the musical comedy Share My Lettuce.

This led to regular appearances in a string of plays at the Old Vic theatre, including The Rehearsal and Mary, Mary.

While starring in The Double Dealer, Maggie caught the eye of Laurence Olivier who invited her to become part of his National Theatre Company.

Maggie went on to appear opposite the actor in Othello, with the pair famed for their professional rivalry.

In 1958, the actress made her screen debut in Nowhere to Go but it wasn’t until her Oscar-winning performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 11 years later that she gained international fame.

Maggie continued to appear on stage in a number of plays – winning a Tony Award for her role in Broadway comedy Private Lives.

During this time, she won her second Academy Award for best supporting actress in California Suite alongside Michael Caine.

She appeared in a number of comedies, including Sister Act, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Quartet.

In 2001, Maggie took the role as Hogwarts deputy headmistress Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series of films.

She played the Transfiguration teacher in seven of the eight films until 2011.

Dame Maggie most recently starred in the 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, where Violet’s health deteriorates and she dies in an emotional end to her character.

The next year, she appeared in The Miracle Club, which follows a group of women from Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes.

Away from the screen, Maggie married actor Robert Stephens in June 1967.

The couple shared two sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, before they divorced eight years later.

She previously opened up about her health battles, including treatment for Graves’ disease in 1988.

In 2007, it emerged Maggie had been diagnosed with breast cancer but she went on to make a full recovery.