Louise Raymond

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EastEnders character
Louise Raymond
Portrayed by Carol Harrison
Duration 1998–1999
Date of birth 13 September 1958
Marital status Divorced
Occupation Unknown
Family Tiffany, Simon

Louise Raymond (née Simmonds) was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Carol Harrison.

Louise was the estranged mother of Tiffany and Simon Raymond. She was adored by her children, but her selfish actions always ended up hurting them. Her relationship with her children deteriorated when they discovered she'd slept with her daughter's husband, which inadvertently led to her daughter's death and her son's mental breakdown.

[edit] Background

Louise arrived in Albert Square in May 1998, just in time to halt the proceedings of her husband Terry's marriage to Irene Hills. Although their marriage had ended in separation many years ago, it turned out that Terry was still legally married to Louise and had refused to grant her a divorce in order to get out of paying the settlement.

Louise had left both her children in the custody of their drunken and abusive father in their teens, and had subsequently had no contact with either. Both Tiffany and Simon found it difficult to cope with their mother's sudden emergence, but it wasn't long before Louise had managed to win them round. After reuniting with her children, Louise decided to move to Walford, mainly to support Tiffany, who was going through a traumatic time after the break-up of her marriage to Grant Mitchell. Louise initially lived with the recently divorced Ruth Fowler, but later she moved into a flat elsewhere on the Square.

[edit] Louise's Betrayal

Louise had it in for Grant initially, and spent much of her time trying to convince Tiffany not to go back to him. Grant was desperate to save his marriage in order to remain close to his daughter Courtney, and realising the influence Louise had, he made a deliberate effort to get her on side. Over subsequent meetings, it soon became evident that Grant and Louise were attracted to each other, and Grant would regularly make advances on Louise. Louise, initially denied her feelings, embarking on a fling with Gianni di Marco to put Grant off. However, on the night of her 40th birthday, the inevitable happened and Grant and Louise ended up in bed together. The next day, Louise was wracked with guilt, which was compounded by the fact that Tiffany had decided that she wanted to make another go of things with Grant after all. In order to spare her daughter's feeling, Louise was forced to keep the sordid affair a secret.

Louise later got herself a job as manager of Ian Beale's brick-a-brack business, much to Grant's dismay, as he had become hell-bent on forcing Louise out of Walford for fear she would divulge their affair. Grant was later seething with jealousy when Louise looked like she was about to embark on a fling with his brother Phil, and was delighted when he managed to put a stop to it.

Louise was attacked in November of that year and it was Grant who came to her rescue, which led to them nearly ending up in bed for a second time, stopped only by Simon's unexpected appearance. Panicking, Grant decided not to divulge her mother's attack to Tiffany, as he feared that she would be more likely to confess their affair in her emotional state. When Louise found out that Grant had attempted to keep her daughter away from her, she went round to The Queen Victoria to confront him, and accused him of using her for sex. However, a distraught Tiffany heard their entire conversation over the baby monitor.

Upon realising that her mother had betrayed her with her husband, Tiffany decided to flee Walford. Moments before she was about to depart with Beppe di Marco, Grant accosted her, and a vicious argument culminated in Tiffany falling down the stairs and being rushed to hospital with severe injuries. After Tiffany recovered, she refused to have anything more to do with Louise, and after an attempt to set Grant up as the perpetrator of her accidental fall, she made plans to flee Walford for a second time. Unfortunately, disaster struck again when she was run over by Frank Butcher and instantly killed. On the day of her funeral, Tiffany's best-friend Bianca Jackson discovered a letter from Tiffany explaining Louise's betrayal, upon which Bianca furiously threatened to tell Simon what Louise had been up to unless she left Walford. Louise departed in January of 1999, leaving her son a simpering, emotional wreck.

Later that year, Louise was forced to return following her son's mental breakdown. Frightened that Bianca would get there first, Louise divulged her affair to Simon. This news only sought to send Simon over the edge and he set fire to his flat, causing himself severe burns. Simon was furious and decided to leave Walford soon after his recovery, although he did manage to patch things up with Louise before he left. After another trivial dalliance with Gianni and more squabbling with Terry, Louise decided to leave Walford too, her last appearance was in April 1999.

[edit] Family

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