Who Are Stephen Hawking's Children?

In 2014, the Hollywood blockbuster "The Theory of Everything," thrust brilliant scientist Stephen Hawking's personal life into the spotlight alongside his discoveries. The film addresses his troubled but touching relationship with his first wife, the whip-smart Jane Wilde. It was this difficult marriage that produced Hawkin's three children, Lucy, Robert, and Timothy Hawking — who have largely remained out of the public eye.

Although Hawking's ex-wife has spoken candidly about their relationship in the press, out of his three children only Lucy has regularly been in the media, having made a living for herself as a journalist. Little is known about Hawking's two sons, although following Hawking's death, all his children took part in a 2021 Sky documentary about the scientist's illness, entitled "Can You Hear Me?"

Hawking's struggle with motor neuron disease was not his alone — during the course of the program his family recounted how they were also profoundly affected by their father's terrible condition. Following his death, the children released a joint statement expressing their deep admiration for their famous father.

Lucy Hawking is by far the most famous of Stephen Hawking's children, having become a successful journalist and writer. She has a number of books to her name, including two adult novels and a whole host of children's books, many of them co-written with her famous father.

Just like her dad, Lucy is prodigiously bright, however, she was initially more interested in language than the sciences. She studied Russian and French at Oxford University before going on to study International Journalism. She told Vogue magazine, that Hawkings was slightly disappointed to discover she did not wish to pursue a scientific career as well, "The day I told him I wasn't going to become a scientist, I felt like I had broken his heart. 'This is a big mistake. You'll never be on the cutting edge now,' he said sadly."

Nevertheless, later in life, Lucy used her talent for words to elucidate some of her dad's ideas: specializing in children's books that explain scientific concepts. She co-wrote Hawking's final work, "You and the Universe," a book designed to answer head-scratching scientific questions about the universe in an accessible way. Sadly Hawkings did not live to see it published.

Stephen Hawking's sons, Robert and Timothy Hawkings have lived a quiet existence largely out of public view. According to the Metro, the elder of the two, Robert (pictured) aspired to be a great scientist like his father but later decided to study software engineering at Oxford University instead. Robert's keen mind landed him a prestigious job at Microsoft later in life.

Hawking's youngest son, Timothy Hawking was born after his father's speech had already begun to seriously deteriorate. Timothy barely understood him as a small child, saying "My dad was able to speak with his own, natural voice for those first years, but it was incredibly difficult to understand what he was saying — particularly for me at such a young age" (via Cambridge Live).

When he got a little older, he'd play tricks on his father by programming swear words into his voicebox. Like his elder sister, Timothy has a head for languages and studied both French and Spanish at Birmingham and Exeter University. He went on to have a marketing career at the Lego toy company.