'We'd have killed each other!': Why SamCam's mother Lady Astor could never have been a stay-at-home mum Viscountess Astor made the comments in an interview with the Times She said she would have 'died of boredom' if she had stayed at home Her five children, she says, were not so keen on her dedication to career Among them is Samantha Cameron, now married to the Prime Minister She's the aristocratic brains behind the OKA interior design chain and set up her first business aged just 17. Now the Prime Minister's mother-in-law Viscountess Annabel Astor, 65, has revealed that her passion for work meant she would have 'died of boredom' if she had had to give up her businesses while bringing up her children. 'I would have died of boredom and I would think it would be very constricting,' she told the Times newspaper. Career: Lady Astor says she would have 'died of boredom' if she had had to stay at home with her children Well connected: Lady Annabel with her husband William, 4th Viscount Astor, and Prime Minister David Cameron My children knew I went to work every day and they knew when I was coming back. My main focus was to bath them and read to them and at weekends we always sat down to meals and talked. The eldest of Viscountess Astor's five children is Samantha Cameron, who was born in 1971, during Astor's marriage to Sir Reginald Sheffield. Another daughter, Emily Sheffield, is now the deputy editor of British Vogue, and she has three children, Flora, Will and Jake, with her current husband Lord Astor. Today, Astor is at the helm of OKA, a furniture company with 11 shops nationwide and a showroom on Fulham road. The business, just 13 years old, has made Astor a multimillionaire. Nevertheless, Astor admits to feeling slightly ashamed by her commitment to career and says she doesn't feel she was a good role model to her daughters. 'Compared to my contemporaries who did look after their children, it was slightly shaming that I didn't,' she explained. Happy family: Viscountess Astor, far right, with her daughters Emily Sheffield (far left) and Samantha Cameron Family resemblance: Sam Cam has had a successful career and makes time for dates with her husband At the time my children minded very much. When they compared me with their friends' parents, they would say "Mummy, why can't you be at home?" 'I'd say: "Because we'd all kill each other."' Interestingly, despite Astor admitting to being 'slightly shamed' by her commitment to her career, it would seem that her considerable business brain has been passed on. Before husband David Cameron was elected Prime Minister, Astor's eldest daughter Samantha was the hugely successful creative director of Smythson, where her eye for design turned around the fortunes of the ailing leather goods house. Unlike her mother, however, Samantha chose to reduce her workload after baby daughter Florence was born and now has a part-time consulting role at the brand. Younger daughter Emily Sheffield, meanwhile, has chosen the opposite trajectory and has thrown herself into a successful career as deputy editor of British Vogue. Flora, her daughter with William, 4th Viscount Astor, is a well-regarded gemologist and jewellery designer, while her sons Will and Jake work in property and finance. With her children fully-fledged and established in careers of their own, most of Lady Astor's efforts are dedicated to OKA, which is about to launch a new collection designed by veteran interiors guru Nicky Haslam. But despite the pressure of running a thriving business, there is one person she always finds time for - her husband. 'We're very rarely separated,' she reveals. Every week we go out to dinner on our own just to sit and chat and have a chance to talk. And it happens regardless of events at Fulham Road.