Who is Duke’s mother in the Peaky Blinders film? Tommy Shelby’s many children, explained

Loads of iconic characters returned for the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man film on Netflix. If you’ve lost track of the Shelby family tree, then here’s a refresher on who is the mother of Duke, and Tommy’s other children.

Duke’s mother wasn’t a big character in Peaky Blinders

He was born off-screen, before the events of Peaky Blinders season one. Duke’s mother was a Romani girl called Zelda Chiriklo. Kaulo was her twin sister. In flashbacks in season six, we saw Zelda steal Tommy‘s watch at the Appleby Horse Fair in May 1914. They got, erm, very closely acquainted under a tree. Zelda’s father was so angry about their relationship that he shot Tommy. So, Zelda didn’t get in touch with Tommy again after World War One.

Duke’s mother died of an unspecified illness when Duke was still a child. Tommy didn’t know any of this (and neither did Peaky Blinders viewers) until Esme explained it all in season six. Barry Keoghan took over as Duke for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

Charles is the son of Tommy’s first wife

Charles Shelby was born in 1922 – making him seven years younger than Duke. His biological mother is Tommy’s first wife, Grace. As Grace died in season three episode two, Charles was most raised by his stepmother, Lizzie. As Tommy is a pretty terrible father, Charles comes to see Lizzie as his main parent, and calls her “mum”. and chooses to live with her after she leaves Tommy in the finale of season six.

Ruby (was) Tommy’s daughter with Lizzie

Ruby is three years younger than Charles. Her mother is Lizzie Stark (later Ruby Shelby), Tommy’s second wife. She barely appears in seasons four, but becomes a main character later on. The Peaky Blinders characters say Ruby dies of “consumption” – that’s what people used to call tuberculosis and other lung diseases.

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Featured image credit: Netflix