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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Celebrated author Hanif Kureishi, 70, marries Italian 20 years his junior after he was confined to a wheelchair
His talent and appetite for mocking bourgeois pieties have been evident since his debut screenplay in 1984, My Beautiful Launderette, which earned him an Oscar nomination and propelled its star, Daniel Day-Lewis, to international attention.
But finally, at the age of 70, Hanif Kureishi, whose first novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, managed to outrage his own sister, seems ready to embrace convention.
This week, I can disclose, he married – for the first time – many years after fathering twin boys by one lover, Tracey Scoffield, and another son by Monique Proudlove, the younger woman for whom he abandoned Scoffield.
Indeed, such is Kureishi's new-found enthusiasm for the institution of marriage, he talked about it in front of an audience at the British Library at the weekend while in conversation with author Monisha Rajesh.
'I have never tried it,' reflected Kureishi, speaking from the wheelchair to which he is now confined since breaking his neck in a fall in 2022.
'So I am going to try it on Monday. I am getting married in London in Hammersmith near my house so I can go round in my wheelchair.'
His bride is Isabella d'Amico, an Italian 20 years his junior with whom he has shared his life since 2012.
Unable to hold a pen, or a glass or 'fiddle with a phone or use a computer', Kureishi explained that there will always be three in the marriage – even when he and Isabella are at home, having supper.
'A full-time carer is sitting there with us, and she will be there every night forever,' reflected Kureishi, adding that the accident, and its consequences, continue to be 'mind-blowing and traumatic and painful to absorb. Isabella was saying last night I was asleep but screaming and shouting all night. The horror of what happened doesn't go away.'
Revealing that his account of the accident and its aftermath, Shattered, is being turned into a film, Kureishi offered evidence that his trademark humour has survived. 'I wanted Brad Pitt to play me,' he told the audience, to laughter.
'They thought he was a bit young for the part.'
What has 'really changed', Kureishi added, was his relationship with other people – a detail which might intrigue an ex-girlfriend who said that Kureishi's second screenplay, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, ought to have been entitled: 'Hanif Gets Paid, Sally Gets Exploited'.
The relationship, Kureishi said, 'became much deeper and my need became greater, and they responded to my need for love from them'.
Let's hope that that includes his new Italian mother-in-law. Once, on the phone, she asked Kureishi what he was doing. Watching The Sopranos, came the reply – 'to learn about your people and their background...'
Fearne gets her sparkle back partying in Ibiza
Fearne Cotton, who announced her separation from her husband Jesse Wood earlier this year, is determined to recapture her youth.
The 43-year-old TV presenter shared a series of vibrant snaps from the celebration on Instagram on Tuesday
The former presenter, 43, has been enjoying 'relentless' revelling on the Spanish party island of Ibiza.
'My cup is full, and I need some sleep,' she wrote next to this photo with her hands in the air while wearing a sequin mini dress.
Fearne, who prides herself on living a life dedicated to wellness, was seen kissing TV director Elliot Hegarty, 53, 11 weeks after announcing her break-up. They were said to have been secretly dating since January, after her split from Wood.
Florence pours pints for punters
Florence Pugh was spotted pouring pints for customers in a London pub last week, after the Oppenheimer star had appeared in a music video for pop star Yungblud.
The actress, 29, can certainly afford a round or two.
Newly published figures for the performing arts company into which she channels her earnings, Flo Pug, disclose that it made a £1.2 million profit in the year to last August.
It takes accumulated earnings held by her in the business to £3.9 million.
Monty Python star say's he 'doesn't need' royal honour
Michael Palin accepted a knighthood, but his fellow Monty Python star John Cleese has rejected several honours.
'I simply don't need that sort of validation,' Cleese declares.
'It's enough for me to know that I've helped people through difficult times by making them laugh.
'They come home, turn on Fawlty Towers and the world doesn't seem quite so bleak. That's my reward.'
He adds: 'Also, look at those men who have turned down awards and titles: David Bowie, Michael Frayn... I have respect for them.'
What an honour for little Kidd!
Model-turned-make-up artist Jemma Kidd and Marquess of Douror Arthur Wellesley ended their 16-year marriage in 2021, but they had something to reunite them this week: Their youngest was a Page of Honour to King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Order of the Garter service in Windsor.
Alfred Wellesley, ten, helped carry the heavy train of King Charles's robe at the St George's Chapel service.
Alfred's relations have strong links to the Windsors, shown yesterday by the presence of his grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, in the Royal Procession at Ascot, alongside Princess Anne.
Sir David wins out after a barny with his Cotswolds neighbours
Newly knighted Sir David Beckham, October's guest editor of Country Life magazine, has won a row with his neighbours over plans for a barn at his £6 million Cotswolds estate.
He and Victoria, or Lady Beckham, applied to West Oxfordshire District Council to build a 'storage barn for hay or straw and agricultural equipment', prompting some complaints from locals.
Now, planners have provided a 'prior determination notification' which confirms that the former England footballer is permitted to build the barn.
Ringo's small jibe at Daltrey
After his chaotic departure from The Who – he was fired, reinstated and fired again – drummer Zak Starkey confirms his father, Sir Ringo Starr, is no fan of the band's frontman, Sir Roger Daltrey.
Though Zak says he personally holds no grudges against the singer, knighted in the King's Birthday Honours, he claims Beatle Ringo said: 'I've never liked the way that little man runs that band.'
Ringo is 5ft 7in to Roger's 5ft 5in.
