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Spectator
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
I've rekindled my love affair with England
Late spring. Sitting in the armchair in the living room, I was chilly and disconsolate. My middle daughter was seven-and-a-half months pregnant and unwell. The pregnancy had triggered two serious autoimmune disorders. She'd been successfully treated for thyroid cancer a few years before, but this new disease was attacking her lower spine; she was exhausted and in almost constant pain. At times she couldn't pick up her two-year-old daughter. I could barely afford to fill up the car, never mind pay for parking and a flight back to England, and every night lay awake worrying. Beside the chair to the left, a live rock wall, and in front, a wood-burner. To one side of the stove, on a table-easel, was a framed print; the last and most optimistic in a series of allegories I painted during my immediate post-marital separation years. The five works depict the same semi-naked woman turning away from a sparse and gloomy interior towards a bright landscape (hope) in the distance, but with each new work, the interior became lighter and more colourful, and the landscape moved closer. Next to the print, a painted concrete cast of Tintin's dog Snowy. On the other side of the fire, a plaster tortoise and a small copy in oils of the Victorian symbolist painter G.F. Watts's 'Delusive Hope'. Hope or, to the more pessimistic, 'delusive hope' was the last of the 'evils' to escape from Pandora's box. In Watts's painting, a blind girl sits on a rock trying to play a tune on a broken lyre. An email appeared on my phone. Would I be interested in hosting one of the Spectator writers' dinners? I looked at the blind girl playing the single string on her lyre and re-read the message. It was definitely for me and, although doubtful anyone would turn up, I said yes. A date was set. I tried not to think about the prospect of no one coming and forgot about it until I was told it had sold out. Sixteen Spectator readers bought tickets. A couple of weeks later I learned from the Times's Diary the evening was also the one in which Sarah Vine was holding a launch party for her book about being married to the editor of this magazine, Michael Gove, and by chance – or not – Vine's ex-friend Emily Sheffield (Samantha Cameron's sister) was hosting a big party as well. And it was Boris Johnson's birthday. After some thought I couldn't decide which of these four events would be more terrifying. I needn't have worried. The evening was jolly and there were a couple of familiar faces, Nicola and Woody, whom Jeremy and I met on the 2015 Spectator cruise from Venice to Athens. A bonus. Alasdair came down especially from Glasgow and I, sometimes mocked as a young nurse for reading the Times or the Glasgow Herald on lunch breaks, was particularly pleased to meet two Spectator-reading nurses, Siobhan and her friend Caroline. My only regret was to yield to the request from features editor Will to tell the dinner guests my entry to Jeremy's 2011 puerile and offensive joke competition. It was how Jeremy and I met; the winners were invited to his first book launch. The joke was bad enough 14 years ago. What kind of fool would recount a misogynist joke in public these days? Three glasses down I hoped the tide of wokery was, if not exactly ebbing, turning at least, and thought too that Spectator readers more than most, would laugh. They did. Being a woman helped. Imagine a bloke telling the one about the man who goes to the doctor worried that his wife is dead which ends with the punchline: 'Well, doctor, the sex is still the same but the ironing's piling up…' The following day I headed to Oxfordshire to see my middle daughter and meet my grandson for the second time. Since he was born in the middle of May, he's almost doubled in size and is now smiling and cooing and holding his head up. My little granddaughter ran into my arms, and my daughter, although still tired and on fortnightly injections, is almost completely pain-free and 80 per cent more energetic than she was. We had an early dinner in the garden of The Fish in nearby Sutton Courtenay and another day went to a bougie family festival. The sun shone and rekindled my love affair with England. As a child, because my father was dead and my mother worked full time and had a boyfriend I feared and loathed, I spent the summer holidays away from Scotland with my grandparents in Staffordshire. Between the ages of eight and 11, I stayed on an aunt's farm, helping with housework and stable duties and learning to ride on a palomino pony called Silver. Eventually I was proficient enough to be allowed out alone to explore the bridle paths on an old 16-hand chestnut mare called Monica. She was a gentle creature and allowed me some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Occasionally in my mind's eye I catch a glimpse of myself, aged ten, trotting along sun-dappled lanes on that big steady horse. Back home in Provence the summer rentals I manage have begun. Although quieter than previous years, they'll provide a little income and I've received two, possibly three, new commissions for paintings. For now at least, the copy of 'Delusive Hope' is no longer the dominant image in the room.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Holiday' village flower boxes that ‘resemble bins'
Villagers living in an area made famous by the film The Holiday have criticised wooden boxes installed in the street to block traffic. Residents say the planters are 'not exactly in keeping' with the chocolate-box look of Shere, set in the Surrey Hills. Surrey county council introduced the boxes to pedestrianise the village centre, but residents say they look like 'bins'. Shere, six miles east of Guildford, provided the backdrop for the 2006 Christmas romantic comedy starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Kate Winslet. Villager Andrew Bullman, 46, said of the scheme: 'They're not exactly in keeping with such a quaint old town. They look like unsightly bins. 'I also don't really understand the need for them. This isn't exactly an area with major traffic congestion. It's already a pretty pedestrianised area. I imagine the money could have been used better elsewhere.' Martin Johnson, 78, a former architect, also felt the planters' aesthetic needed some improving. He said: 'They're pretty ugly but I assume they're half-finished. They're not a great colour – it would be better if they matched the trees or fencing – and they're too high. 'For planters to look good, they need to be lower. Then, they'll look better once they have flowers or trees in them.' Anna Velody and Sam Mulligan, both 24, often enjoy a day out in Shere – and 'fell about laughing' when they spotted the recent additions. Ms Velody said: 'They could have been a better colour – they're not very subtle at the moment.' Mr Mulligan added: 'They're not exactly matching but they're better than bollards. And I'm sure the Tea Shop is happy.' The village is a tourist draw with fans of The Holiday and also features the White Horse pub where Law's character first encountered Diaz's and their romance began. Rosehill Cottage, the stone home owned by Winslet's character, never actually existed. Interior shots were filmed inside a studio and the outside was built just for the film, while street scenes were filmed in Shere. The settlement also featured in Bridget Jones's Diary, with St James' Church the setting for where the parents of Renée Zellweger's character renewed their wedding vows. The church also featured in the 2005 rom-com The Wedding Date starring Dermot Mulroney and Amy Adams. On its website, Surrey council said the planters were recently introduced as part of a scheme to 'create a pedestrianised area and seating for residents to use' in The Square. Dean Hart, 44, manager at Hilly's Tea Shop, said he was excited by the new pedestrian area and was confident it would be good for the community. He decided to apply for a pedestrianised area following its success when one was introduced during the pandemic and three years on, the council granted the request. But neighbours criticised the plan so much that he was forced to take the family business off social media. Mr Hart said: 'The vision was about creating a space where people can relax in the village. 'It's a place where parents can bring their kids without worrying about cars and roads – and where members of the community can come together.' He said visitors were already using it and sitting on the benches, but 'there are a lot of people who are unhappy'. 'It's an old-school village and people often don't like change,' he added. 'And unfortunately, we're getting the brunt of it. There's been a lot of abuse. We've taken our business off social media. 'And I get the arguments – they've been placed a bit haphazardly.' The council 'is considering making the planters smaller', he revealed. Villager Izzi Lee-Pearse, 34, accused critics of reacting too quickly. She added: 'They're not done yet. Wait until they're all planted up. As for the size, they need to be big so it's obvious it's a sectioned-off area.' Paul Colonna, 67, said: 'A lot of other locals might not like them but I do. I think it's good to have an area – especially for children.' Bob Hughes, a Surrey county councillor, told the BBC the planters were 'an experiment' and something 'more appropriate' would eventually replace them. Surrey council was approached for further comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘The Holiday' village flower boxes that ‘resemble bins'
Villagers living in an area made famous by the film The Holiday have criticised wooden boxes installed in the street to block traffic. Residents say the planters are 'not exactly in keeping' with the chocolate-box look of Shere, set in the Surrey Hills. Surrey county council introduced the boxes to pedestrianise the village centre, but residents say they look like 'bins'. Shere, six miles east of Guildford, provided the backdrop for the 2006 Christmas romantic comedy starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Kate Winslet. Villager Andrew Bullman, 46, said of the scheme: 'They're not exactly in keeping with such a quaint old town. They look like unsightly bins. 'I also don't really understand the need for them. This isn't exactly an area with major traffic congestion. It's already a pretty pedestrianised area. I imagine the money could have been used better elsewhere.' Martin Johnson, 78, a former architect, also felt the planters' aesthetic needed some improving. He said: 'They're pretty ugly but I assume they're half-finished. They're not a great colour – it would be better if they matched the trees or fencing – and they're too high. 'For planters to look good, they need to be lower. Then, they'll look better once they have flowers or trees in them.' Anna Velody and Sam Mulligan, both 24, often enjoy a day out in Shere – and 'fell about laughing' when they spotted the recent additions. Ms Velody said: 'They could have been a better colour – they're not very subtle at the moment.' Mr Mulligan added: 'They're not exactly matching but they're better than bollards. And I'm sure the Tea Shop is happy.' The village is a tourist draw with fans of The Holiday and also features the White Horse pub where Law's character first encountered Diaz's and their romance began. Rosehill Cottage, the stone home owned by Winslet's character, never actually existed. Interior shots were filmed inside a studio and the outside was built just for the film, while street scenes were filmed in Shere. The settlement also featured in Bridget Jones's Diary, with St James' Church the setting for where the parents of Renée Zellweger 's character renewed their wedding vows. The church also featured in the 2005 rom-com The Wedding Date starring Dermot Mulroney and Amy Adams. On its website, Surrey council said the planters were recently introduced as part of a scheme to 'create a pedestrianised area and seating for residents to use' in The Square. Dean Hart, 44, manager at Hilly's Tea Shop, said he was excited by the new pedestrian area and was confident it would be good for the community. He decided to apply for a pedestrianised area following its success when one was introduced during the pandemic and three years on, the council granted the request. But neighbours criticised the plan so much that he was forced to take the family business off social media. Mr Hart said: 'The vision was about creating a space where people can relax in the village. 'It's a place where parents can bring their kids without worrying about cars and roads – and where members of the community can come together.' He said visitors were already using it and sitting on the benches, but 'there are a lot of people who are unhappy'. 'It's an old-school village and people often don't like change,' he added. 'And unfortunately, we're getting the brunt of it. There's been a lot of abuse. We've taken our business off social media. 'And I get the arguments – they've been placed a bit haphazardly.' The council 'is considering making the planters smaller', he revealed. Villager Izzi Lee-Pearse, 34, accused critics of reacting too quickly. She added: 'They're not done yet. Wait until they're all planted up. As for the size, they need to be big so it's obvious it's a sectioned-off area.' Paul Colonna, 67, said: 'A lot of other locals might not like them but I do. I think it's good to have an area – especially for children.' Bob Hughes, a Surrey county councillor, told the BBC the planters were 'an experiment' and something 'more appropriate' would eventually replace them. Surrey council was approached for further comment.
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump called her a great woman, but who is Keir Starmer's wife Lady Victoria? As her neighbour this is what I know
With just days to go before the UK general election last year, local candidates' leaflets were dropping through letterboxes across the country. And where I live in Kentish Town, it was no different. Apart from, maybe, that our local MP Sir Keir Starmer was about to become the country's next prime minister and I can see his house from mine. It was pretty lively in the run up; what with a noisy week-long protest at the station over the Gaza conflict and piles of children's shoes placed outside the Labour leader's house (to remind him of the thousands that have been killed). I regularly spotted his security cavalcade if I was up early, whisking Sir Keir off to work. But what most surprised me when I saw the Labour leaflet was the picture of Sir Keir with his wife, Lady Starmer. Or Vic, as she is better known by the Kentish Town mum mafia (who reckon she is 'cool', 'a laugh', 'down to earth' and 'one of us'). Around these parts, with her jeans and silk shirts, leather jackets and chic 'working mum' vibe, Vic blends in. Downtime for the Starmers means cooking and going to gigs and they are surrounded by great music venues from the Forum to the Jazz Cafe. It is a close-knit community and it's Vic's patch. She was born in London and grew up in Gospel Oak, not far from where the couple have their £1.27m townhouse. In walking distance of the green spaces of Hampstead Heath and Regent's Park and within easy reach of Camden and Soho, it is a busy hub of just-like-them professionals. As a political spouse, she has always kept a 'low pro'. While her husband was campaigning, she concentrated on helping their son get through his GCSE exams, making him fried eggs and toast, while dutifully cracking on with her job as an occupational therapist in the NHS. But of course, the incredibly smart, down-to-earth and funny Ms Starmer has always been her husband's most valuable asset. Which has not gone unnoticed by the American president. As he met the Prime Minister at the White House, Donald Trump gushed how 'impressed' he was with Lady Victoria Starmer who was a 'beautiful, great woman'. Vic has a political pedigree of her own, winning a landslide victory to become student union president at Cardiff University in 1994 when she challenged left-wingers in the NUS and won. The local paper proclaimed 'Vic-tory' for the 'windswept', deeply glam then Victoria Alexander. She is certainly no shrinking violet, either. Tom Baldwin's biography of Keir Starmer recounts how the pair met when they were both lawyers. Keir (rumoured to then have been the inspiration for the character Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary) asked to speak to the person who had created some documents he needed for a case. That phone call was to be his first introduction to Vic's feisty nature. Before Keir hung up he heard her say to a colleague: 'Who the f*** does he think he is?' They met at a legal dinner a few weeks later 'and she shared her vegetarian meal with him'. Kentish Town legend has it that they had their first date at my local, The Lord Stanley (an excellent gastro pub if you were wondering). Afterwards, he walked her to the bus stop and waved her off. They married a few years later. It was Vic who pushed him on in his career to become director of public prosecutions. In a recent Sky interview, the Labour leader said: 'My wife was ringing adverts in the papers about well-paid lawyers' jobs and I said, 'No I want to serve my country', which is why, at a late stage, I came into politics…' Asked if his wife was keen, Sir Keir replied: 'No she wasn't at all, she thought it'd be far better to continue being a lawyer on a reasonable salary and not have all of the challenges you get as a politician.' Of course, the path for wives to visbily support their spouses once in power is well trodden. A two-for-one 'Bogof' couples deal is often, depressingly, still what is expected – Melania is rarely not by her husband's side during his big moments, Jill Biden dutifully trailed behind Joe, and while Michelle Obama has resisted doing the same for her husband recently, when Barak was president, their power-coupling was such that it garnered its own moniker: Mobama. So far, though, requests for interviews with Lady V from Starmer's team have been stonewalled. 'Ms Starmer will not be giving any interviews' was the curt response when I tried during the election campaign and many have had since. When I asked whether they might put up some trusted friends to speak for her (as happened when I once wrote a piece about Samantha Cameron, who also 'wasn't available for interview' at the time), I was told firmly that that was not going to happen either. As one Labour grandee put it to me: 'Keir is tough, strategic and proud. He doesn't want to use his family to humanise his rather robotic public image. He makes a lacklustre candidate but those qualities will make him a very good prime minister.' And so, until now, we have only had glimpses of Lady Starmer. She was there for the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium, attended a candlelit vigil for Sarah Everard, and was spotted sporting dark glasses in the Royal Box for the Wimbledon women's singles semi-finals on Centre Court in 2022. Last year, she popped up in a £800 Edeline Lee dress for the Labour conference in Liverpool, which saw her compared to Julianne Moore. She is a modern wife, supporting Sir Keir when she needs to, but largely getting on with it while she gets on with her working life. They also have their two teenage children to think about. So far, the couple have managed to keep even their names out of the press and new privacy laws have helped. Both Starmer children attend local schools in Kentish Town (she became a governor at our local primary in 2015 when he became the local MP). By his own admission, the effect his career could have on his children was always a primary concern for Sir Keir:. Before the election he said: 'I want this fight, the only thing which keeps me up at night is our children because they are 13 and 15. 'Those are difficult ages – it will impact them. We don't name them in public. We don't take photographs with them and they go to the local school. 'I am desperately trying to protect them in that way, but I know it is going to be hard and I do worry about that.' I know a bit about how it might feel, having grown up with my stepmother, Tessa Jowell, who was a fixture in all of Tony Blair's cabinets. I was used to politicians coming and going in our family home. I've seen David Blunkett in his Speedos and Alastair Campbell playing the bagpipes. I've even experienced the paparazzi camped outside my house. As a family, you don't choose a career in politics but it impacts everyone's lives regardless. Just ask Cherie, who has never lived down answering the door the day after the election in her nightie and was once told that 'everyone in the press office hated her'. I have met most of the incumbents of No 10 and their spouses (except for Mr Truss and Rishi Sunak and his wife). I had a particular soft spot for Samantha Cameron who always behaved with great charm, kindness and dignity, even during the death of her beloved son Ivan. Sarah Brown was a considerable businesswoman in her own right, an excellent PR woman and did much to soften Gordon Brown's harder edges. Ironically, one of the most powerful pictures to emerge of his entire reign as leader was the shot of him with Sarah and their two little sons as they left Downing Street. I've even dined with Mr May, Theresa's soulmate and confidante – the two of them were thick as thieves, he being one of her key strategists. Like Mr May, and Tony Blair's infamous domestic 'kitchen cabinet', it is said that Lady Starmer is also an important voice in Sir Keir's ear. It is to her that he turns when he has to make a tough call and Vic who is begged by aides to intervene if it really matters. Her insight into the true state of the NHS has proved a good advantage. Adding to their anxieties will be the current febrile climate around the Israel/Hamas conflict. Victoria's family are Jewish, fleeing Poland before the Second World War, and Sir Keir told the Jewish Chronicle they 'observe some of the practices such as Friday night prayers'. His wife attends the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John's Wood. One Labour insider told me Vic had felt 'intimidated and scared' by the pro-Palestinian protesters outside their home and she told a court this week how the experience had left her feeling 'a bit sick' and 'apprehensive and uncomfortable'. Her low-profile means she is quite rightly, simply trying to tread a careful line between supporting her husband when necessary and protecting the privacy of their family. Now her husband has become prime minister, it is increasingly more difficult for her to keep out of the public eye . While it is unlikely she will ever do a 'surprise' gushy speech dedicated to her husband's ambition, drive and love for Netflix shows, as her predecessor did, there is a recalibrating going on of sorts. Middle-class life in Kentish Town has much to recommend it; as does the anonymity of not standing out from the crowd. So far Lady Starmer, 51, has managed to do a fantastic job behind the scenes. As Sir Keir told LBC listeners after the election, it was his wife who kept his morale up during low points during the campaign. 'I'm not good company when I'm in that place. Vic sort of cheered me up on that one…' In Washington, she has worked her 'soft-power' magic again. You may not have seen her, but her supportive presence will have been keenly felt by her husband and it didn't go unoticed by the president either. Having had the keys to Number 10 since July, the Starmers' cosy Kentish Town vibe has had to step up a notch. Facing some turbulent headwinds, it hasn't been an easy transition. As a prime minister, with great power comes great responsibility and as a husband, Sir Keir of course, feels responsible to those closest to him, too.
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Bridget Jones director shares Colin Firth's emotional reaction to film
Director Michael Morris has opened up about Colin Firth 's involvement in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, including his reaction to scenes in the new film. Speculation had swirled that Firth would be axed from the film entirely, and there were doubts whether his character Mark Darcy would be killed off. The film is the fourth instalment of the popular franchise that became a cultural phenomenon when romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary was released in diary originated as a column written by The Independent journalist Helen Fielding, the film version became a box office smash and received an Oscar nomination for its leading actor Renée Zellweger. *Spoilers ahead* 'From the book there are no secrets because you know that Mark Darcy has died,' Morris told The Independent. However, the To Leslie director was adamant on keeping Firth's plot line a secret. 'We did want to protect that because it was really important to me. There's lots of ways to tell that story. The simple way of saying, 'Mark Darcy's died,' but I didn't want to tell it that way.' He added: 'I wanted the first 10-15 minutes for us not to know. Just to witness a day in her life, a chaotic night in her life where she's got to be somewhere, she's late, and one of the things that happens is she sees him. 'And it's very important to me to present that relationship as if it were real and happening because that's how Bridget at the beginning of the film is dealing with loss.' The film follows serious themes of grief, interspersed with Zellweger's character involved in an age-gap fling with a younger man, Roxter, played by Leo Woodall. 'She's not dealing with it in the way that perhaps she ought to, which is to sort of accept it,' he said. 'She's pretending and she sees him when she needs him and she gets comfort from him and there's still so much love between them.' He added: 'That's one one secret that I wanted to save because I didn't want it to be known how we were going to use him.' The filmmaker revealed Firth's emotional reaction to his role in the film as he shared: 'For Colin, he was on board and it was so sad that we couldn't use him more. But he's so brilliant and he's so iconic in this role.' He continued: 'Colin said something really interesting to me. He said when he came to the set that we built of the house, and there were all these pictures from the last 25 years on the bookshelves of Bridget and Mark, of him as a young man in his 20s, and he walked through that set that he hadn't been part of. 'He just came and he was like, 'It's odd, I've walked through this, this is like a whole other life and they were all real pictures.' 'And he said, 'I felt like that memory. I felt what we were making in the film, that I wasn't there, but I am there, I'm not there, but I am.' So it was really touching.'
