Veteran British actor Brian Blessed has opened up about his emotional agony over a daughter he has not seen for almost 30 years.

The Flash Gordon star's eldest daughter Cathie, from his first marriage to Ann Bomann, reunited with her estranged father in 1988 for a trip up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

However, when their adventure holiday was over, she shocked the actor by telling him she wanted to resume their 'no contact' relationship, and he has not seen her since.

Blessed tells Britain's Daily Mail, "It's a frightfully unhappy situation. The last thing Cathie and I did together was to go up Mount Kilimanjaro nearly 27 years ago. It was a great success: she did very well and got to the summit, although she became quite ill with the altitude and lack of oxygen, so I had to give her lots of aspirin and water.

"We got on marvellously nevertheless; but when we got back from the trip, she said, 'Nah, Dad, I don't want to see you any more now. You live your life and I'll live mine.' There was no argument; as soon as we got home, that was it...

"Her message was, 'Give me a wide berth.' I think she felt she had to be in one camp with her mother, to be faithful and loyal to her mother. She said, 'I'll be true to my mother.'"