Elizabeth Hurley has shared heartfelt words about losing her grandmother to breast cancer in a bid to raise more than £100,000 to towards the fight against disease during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The actress, 56, lost her grandparent to the illness in 1992 while her best friend was also diagnosed with the disease in 2018, and Elizabeth now an ambassador for the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. 

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Elizabeth penned: ‘October 1st marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

‘When my grandmother lost her life to breast cancer in the early 90’s, nobody spoke openly about this disease. Times have changed, but people are still dying. 

‘Today, our call to help end breast cancer for all is more urgent than ever as breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Whether you’re a patient, family or friend, thriver, doctor, or advocate…

‘I hope you’ll join me in helping fund lifesaving breast cancer research by grabbing your favorite pink lipstick, drawing a ribbon, sharing your story, and tagging 5 people in your post to do the same.’ 

Elizabeth then went on to nominate some of her famous friends to pass the message on, writing: ‘I’m nominating @davidfurnish @trinnywoodall @dwalliams @noholdenback @damienhurley1 to join our conversation.’ 

Real life: The actress lost her grandparent to the illness in 1992 and is now an ambassador for the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

Regret: Elizabeth previously became tearful as she revealed her ‘enormous sadness’ over her grandmother’s (pictured) battle, admitting her family ‘weren’t there for her in a way they should have been’

The star went on to explain that Estee Lauder companies will donate up to $150,000 (£111,000) to the cause. 

She wrote: ‘For every public, in-feed Instagram or Facebook post during the month of October featuring both #TimeToEndBreastCancer and #ELCdonates together, @esteelaudercompanies will donate $25 to @bcrfcure up to $150,000.’

Elizabeth previously revealed how her grandmother kept her diagnosis secret from the rest of the family, saying her relative showed her scars from a double mastectomy once she finally told her family about her diagnosis, but would often change the subject.

She said in 2017 that ‘it could have been different’ for her grandmother if she had been diagnosed today, rather than in the early 1990s.

She described how people ‘didn’t talk about it’ back then and believes her grandmother would have felt ’embarrassed’ and ‘scared’. 

Hurley explained how her grandmother ‘didn’t know anything about breast cancer’ and waited a year before going to the doctor after finding a lump.

Sweet: Elizabeth has previously shared images of her grandmother (third, left)

During an appearance on This Morning at the time, she said: ‘When I started working for the breast cancer campaign, my grandmother had just died.

‘When I was told it was started because women were dying, it really rang home for me, because she didn’t talk about it. There was no awareness, no pink ribbon campaign.’ 

In 2018, Elizabeth became emotional on This Morning while revealing one of her closest friends has late-stage breast cancer.

Raising awareness: She told her followers: ‘When my grandmother lost her life to breast cancer in the early 90’s, nobody spoke openly about this disease… People are still dying’

She became visibly upset on the show when she explained that her friend, who was in her 40s at the time and married with kids, is battling the disease.

The Royals actress’ voice shook as she said: ‘I have a very good friend of mine. I’ve just discovered she found a lump and she didn’t tell anyone. She sat on it, she finally went to the doctor and has been diagnosed.

The Austin Powers star became tearful as she went on: ‘It’s a late-stage breast cancer.’

Helping out: Lipz has since played a significant role in the fight against cancer for almost three decades (pictured Estee Lauder’s Breast Cancer Campaign 2019)

Hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield looked on sympathetically as Elizabeth regained her composure and said: ‘It affects everybody.’ 

At the time, the media personality urged: ‘People aren’t checking their own breasts. If you’re too young to have a mammogram, which is under 50 or in some countries under 40, you have to check your breasts. We’re raising awareness but we’re raising funds too.

One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their life. However, those who have already had the disease have double the risk of developing a new cancer in another area of the same breast, or in the other breast.

Genetics are thought to be the reason – but in the majority of cases, the exact genes responsible have not yet been discovered. 

Secret: Elizabeth explained how her grandmother kept her cancer diagnosis secret from the rest of them family and would later change the subject when it was known