Mary McCartney: ‘I love kissing my husband, my kids, my horse. Not dogs – I see what they sniff’

Born in London, Mary McCartney, 52, is the daughter of Paul McCartney and his late wife, Linda. She forged a career as a photographer, and some of her Off Pointe pictures of the Royal Ballet are in the permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2015, she was chosen to take the official photograph of the Queen to mark her becoming the longest-reigning British monarch. The cooking series Mary McCartney Serves It Up! is streaming on Discovery+. She is married for the second time, has four sons and lives in London.

What is your greatest fear?
Losing someone close to me and coping with that intense sadness.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Guilt.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Meanness.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Going back to school after Dad had been arrested for taking marijuana into Japan. I went to a comprehensive, and I remember walking through the door and friends making fun of me.

What is your most treasured possession?
My photo archive. I have all my contact sheets filed, from the first photograph I took to the present day.

What would your superpower be?
Cooking and feeding everybody, so there’d be no food poverty.

What makes you unhappy?
The broken food industry.

What is your most unappealing habit?
Talking over people.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I’ve decided recently to try not to dislike anything, to appreciate it.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
My mother. I have lots of conversations to have with her now I’m a grown woman.

What scares you about getting older?
Not being able to be independent.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A nurse, because my grandmother was a midwife. I was named after her but never got to meet her.

What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
The doctor diagnosing my mum’s illness.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Snacking on junk food. If I eat too righteously, I turn to crisps and crappy chocolate bars.

What do you owe your parents?
They nurtured my creativity – when I became a photographer, my mum gave me one of her cameras.

What does love feel like?
It feels healthy and it makes your body tingle and you feel excited to be alive.

What was the best kiss of your life?
I love kissing. I love kissing my husband, I love kissing my kids, I love kissing my horse. I don’t like kissing dogs – I see what they sniff.

Have you ever said ‘I love you’ and not meant it?
No, because I like to feel love for almost everybody in some way.

Which living person do you most despise, and why?
I don’t despise anybody.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Through food, I’ve become more interested in the protection of soil, the way things are grown, and biodiversity. I’d have become a quantum physicist!

What happens when we die?
I like to think our spirit goes into nature.