Andrew Strauss set to remarry seven years after wife demise due to cancer

England veteran Andrew Strauss is set to marry again, seven years after the tragic passing of his first wife, Ruth, who died of lung cancer. The 48-year-old will tie the knot with his partner Antonia Linnaeus-Peat on December 17 in Franschhoek, South Africa.

Strauss revealed on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast that the ceremony will be an intimate one, with only family members invited. The wedding will take place in the picturesque town of Franschhoek, renowned for its vineyards and located about 50 miles east of Cape Town. As a result, the former England captain will not be part of the broadcast team in Australia for the upcoming Ashes series, which begins next week.

Strauss and Linnaeus-Peat were first seen together publicly two years ago, leaving a restaurant in London. As per reports at the time, they had already been in a relationship for several months.

The couple was also spotted together in the Royal Box at this summer’s Wimbledon Championships, where they joined several well-known sporting personalities, including former footballer Jamie Redknapp and Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny.

Antonia Linnaeus-Peat, who previously worked as a PR executive, now serves as the company director of Linnaeus Fine Art Advisory Limited. She grew up in Hong Kong and attended the prestigious St Mary’s Calne, an independent girls’ school with annual fees of around £40,000.

Strauss’s new marriage comes seven years after the tragic loss of his first wife, Ruth McDonald, who passed away at the age of 46 on December 29, 2018, following a battle with a rare form of non-smoking lung cancer. Strauss and Ruth had been married for 15 years and have two sons, Samuel and Luca, who are now aged 19 and 17 respectively.

In the aftermath of Ruth’s passing, Strauss channelled his grief into a meaningful initiative by founding the Ruth Strauss Foundation in 2019. Created in her memory, the charity provides crucial support to families coping with the terminal illness of a parent and also funds essential research into non-smoking lung cancers.

The foundation’s annual ‘Red for Ruth’ campaign has since become an established highlight of the cricketing calendar. Each year during an England Test match in July, players, staff and spectators are encouraged to wear red to raise awareness and show support for the cause.

Strauss has spoken openly about the profound impact his wife’s death had on him, explaining that the events of late 2018, particularly losing Ruth just days after Christmas, significantly reshaped his perspective on life.