A few days ago, Noah and Elias Becker and his partner Lilian visited three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in prison. The tennis star has been serving his sentence there for several weeks. In an interview with Becker biographer Christian Schommers, he gave us an assessment of his son’s visit and information on how Becker is doing now.
Former tennis idol Boris Becker (54) has been behind bars in Great Britain for two months. At the end of April, a court in London sentenced him to two and a half years in prison for delaying bankruptcy. Now Becker got a visit from his eldest sons Noah (28) and Elias (22) in Huntercombe prison in Nuffield, around 70 kilometers west of London. They were accompanied by Becker’s partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro.
Becker’s biographer Christian Schommers explains what this visit means for Becker, how he is now dealing with his prison sentence and what role Noah in particular plays within the family. In 2013, the journalist and author wrote the sensational biography “Life is not a game” with the three-time Wimbledon winner and accompanied him for a long time.
Noah and Elias Becker visited their father in prison together. What impression did the two make on you?
Christian Schommers: The visit from his sons shows above all that we stand by our father, even if he messed things up. Boris Becker was certainly delighted that the two came to him in prison – together with his partner Lilian.
Even if Boris is certainly suffering from his prison sentence and his family is affected as a result, this visit clearly shows that the family sticks together at this point. This support is extremely important for Boris. Elias has come from New York, where he lives and studies, Noah from Berlin. They were there two and a half hours. Boris must have been very happy to finally see his sons again.
Noah showed the victory or peace sign in the direction of the photographers when leaving the prison. How do you rate that?
This is also a gesture of solidarity, for me it is clearly a sign of victory. Noah wanted to show: We can do it, we can do it! A possible deportation of Boris to Germany is in the air. Two months of his imprisonment are already over, there are now “only” 13 months until he can probably leave prison. You can say that everyone has come to terms with the topic and this exceptional situation. Of course it’s still a mega meltdown, that’s clear, but the first big shock has now been digested.
Do you think it meant a lot to Boris Becker that the two sons came together?
Absolutely. During the course of the trial, Noah was mainly at his side, and relatively little was seen of Elias. But that was also due to the fact that he lives in New York and cannot easily travel to England all the time. But the fact that the two have now come to him together is certainly of great importance to him, because he has a great relationship with both of them. His relationship with Noah is a bit closer, but he loves both sons equally. Elias held back a bit during the process, but both sons stand behind him, as the pictures clearly show again. And they seem to have had a good time visiting their father.
Unlike his wife Lilly Becker, his sons, girlfriend Lilian and his first wife Barbara have not yet commented on his prison sentence – even at events where they have shown themselves.
Yeah, the only one who’s swerving right now is Lilly. Otherwise they have obviously discussed within the family not to comment. Boris, as I know him, will certainly do that when he gets out of prison. There are already various offers for TV documentaries, an updated biography, even for a prison diary. So there’s definitely going to be something else, but it’ll probably be from himself. At the moment it’s his attorney who’s speaking, and Lilly occasionally. Although that is not in the sense of Boris. She complained that she now had to sweep up the pieces.
However, shortly after Becker’s imprisonment, Lilly said in a British interview that she would definitely visit Boris with their son Amadeus, he could hardly wait to see his father.
I don’t really see that at the moment either. Also because of the still pending divorce, which also involves questions of maintenance payments. Lilly certainly doesn’t feel like it at the moment – if at all, then for Amadeus. Of course, it can also play a role that she wants to protect her son from this prison atmosphere. Whether you want to do that to a child is a question that is certainly not that easy to answer. You have to think about that very carefully. Seeing your father in prison can certainly be difficult for a 12-year-old.
Noah Becker appeared alongside Lilian at the current Wimbledon tournament at the invitation of Novak Djokovic. Does he see it as his duty to represent his father as head of the family?
Definitive. Noah accepted this role. He is the one who also maintains communication within the family, including with his grandma of course and Boris’ sister. The only one who seems to be doing her own thing is Lilly.
It is rumored that Boris Becker could possibly be deported to Germany, with the remainder of his sentence being suspended on probation. The catch, however, would be that he would then apparently not be able to return to the UK for two years. What does this mean for his contact with Amadeus?
I think that Lilly and Amadeus would then visit him in Germany. Even if there is trouble between Lilly and Boris, Amadeus wants to see his father. You don’t want to break up with him. That’s a situation that Boris can no longer choose. Actually, he also likes to live in London.
Do you know how Boris Becker is doing two months after his imprisonment?
I know from his environment that he is now taken. He has come to terms with imprisonment. At first it was a shock from prison, a traumatic experience, the two of us in a 6.5 square meter cell and then initially in the notorious Wandsworth prison in London. That was bad, but he’s calm now and he’s happy that he’s getting letters, that he’s being visited and that this nightmare will eventually come to an end, even if it takes longer.
A lawyer believes that Boris Becker’s deportation from Great Britain to Germany is very likely. This could already be possible after 15 months in prison. The ex-tennis legend only received a visit from the eldest sons on Thursday.
It is Boris Becker’s living room and his girlfriend Lilian and his son Noah have now taken a seat in it. The two paid a visit to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Novak Djokovic is supporting Boris Becker and his family during his stay in prison. So the Becker clan can always count on him.
The original of this post “Boris Becker’s biographer: “He has come to terms with imprisonment and is happy about letters”” comes from Bunte.de.
