Edina Monsoon

Jennifer Saunders' character on Absolutely Fabulous. (She may have been born "Edwina" as her mother calls her that.) During school she met Patsy Stone, her best friend for life, and during their adolescence in the 1960s the two drank, got stoned, and tried to get together with boys together. Patsy was generally more successful at this, and even in a film of an orgy Patsy participated in, Edina is shown by herself in a corner. Edina is generally the insecure one of the pair.

Edina has been married twice, once to Justin who turned out to be gay, and once to Marshall who she seems to just not get along with. She has two children, Serge (who is never seen on the series and seems to prefer trips to the ends of the earth to having to be at home with family) and Saffron, who is the responsible anchor trying to keep Edina from living too wildly (and usually failing).

Edina lives on alimony from both husbands as well as profits from her publicity agency and her shop, both of which are badly run but she refuses to give up. She insists on always being fashionable, despite how ridiculous most of her designer clothes look, and won't wear anything without a well-known name on it. (When Saffron wants to donate Edina's old clothes to charity: "You can't give these sort of clothes to the poor. Haven't they got enough to contend with without the added humiliation of wearing last season?") Edina would love for Saffron to be just like her, and is constantly irritated that her daughter wants to go to university instead of spending her time on sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. Instead, Edina continues to live a wild life with Patsy, using her agency and shop as an excuse to go to parties and on trips to France, Morocco, or New York.

Edina is the incredible creation of actress Jennifer Saunders, who lives at the fictional address "34 Claremont Avenue, London, W11 4BS". She supposedly runs a PR company and a little shop that sells "gorgeous little things". However she has little head for business and it seems incredible that she can afford to live in her big house. It seems that only payments from her two ex-husbands keeps her going. She lives with her daughter Saffron Monsoon and keeps her as busy as possible with her infantile pleas to do things for her. Saunders cleverly reverses the natural roles of mother and child by making Saffy the responsible one.

Edina is accompanied by Patsy Stone who gets "Eddy" into a great deal of trouble. Both prefer to shop and drink alcohol than run their buisnesses. They love designer labels and wear only the latest fashions. However, Edina is not terribly good at co-ordination and often ends up looking absolutely horrible, rather than fabulous as Patsy always tells her. Edina also likes art, especially the modern kind. However her knowledge is rather limited and this can be seen through one episode where she walks into an art shop and says, "I want to buy some art!" As a result she is given a mobile-thing made from coat-hangers. Edina also tries various religions but never sticks with them for long. The one she sticks longest with is Buddhism but she never really gets the hang of it.

Edina is forty, but she is incredibly childish. If she does not get her way, she acts like a child and gives ultimatums. In one episode, Eddy actually got down on the floor and banged her hands and feet on the floor while crying, all to get her way. It is as if she views the lives of others as dispensable, subject to her whims. However, though she does get her way sometimes, she also often gets her comeuppance.

Edina loves designer clothes by Christian Lacroix. If it isn't Lacroix it can't be the best!!! Subsequently Christian Lacroix is associated with the kind of fashion people follow if they have more money than sense. However I'm sure that some of his designs are perfectly acceptable, if you like designer clothes anyway. She also loves going into Harvey Nicks for something to drink, as well as to do some shopping. Harvey Nicks is a very reputable shop that has branches in London, Leeds and other large cities.

Edina is supposedly modeled on real-life self-styled PR guru Lynn Franks. Franks had a column in the Evening Standard, which (again supposedly) showed her to be far more wackier than Edina in AbFab! I would dread to think what she was like in person.