Daughter defends former submarine captain who told children he was 'bitterly disappointed' in them Yesterday one of his daughters admitted that she had needed a "kick up the backside." Emily Crews-Montes, 40, said: "He wouldn't retract what he said, and nor should he. In no way would I ask him to apologise. Fundamentally, I couldn't have a great quarrel with what he wrote. I accept it was too harsh. But if you live in France, you're used to being judged harshly. Mrs Crews-Montes now lives in Brittany with her second husband, a French surgeon, and three children aged 18 months, two, and 12. She said her father's email did not upset her because she had already begun to turn her life around when she received it in February. She had set up a business and had started translating a French self-help book into English. I had already done what he told me to do. I had already given myself a kick up the backside. She admitted spending "many years underperforming," partly because her father's uncompromising stance left her with little self-confidence. Mr Crews's email to Mrs Crews-Montes, and her younger siblings Alice, 38, and Fred, 35, included criticism that despite their private education they had "contrived to avoid even moderate achievement." He signed off by saying he did not want to hear any more from them until they had "a success or an achievement" or a realistic plan for the support and happiness of their own children to report. There has been widespread discussion online about the email since Mrs Crews-Montes published it, with her father's permission, in a national newspaper at the weekend, with many people taking his side. Fred Crews, from Plymouth, Devon, said he responded to the message at the time and was "not going to dignify" his father with a full response, although he found the public reaction "fascinating."