Latest news with #KathyLette
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Rowling offers to give honest review of Nicola Sturgeon's memoirs
Turbo-tongued author Kathy Lette recalls presenting a cup to a young Prince William at a polo event and being advised that protocol meant she should kiss him on the cheek. 'As Prince William strode towards me, I thought I'd liven things up,' she tells Woman & Home. ''Apparently, I have to kiss you. Do you want tongue?' I joked. 'Oh!' William blushed. 'Perhaps later!' As William's granny, the late Queen advised: 'Recollections may vary.'' Kathy! Keir Starmer won't want Donald Trump getting wind of his rejection of free honorary membership of the Ellesborough Golf Club when he visits Scotland this week. The freebie is offered to all PMs since Chequers became the PM's country seat in 1917. From David Lloyd George to Rishi Sunak, everyone accepted until Starmer said no. It could be awkward should Trump want to play the course which once hosted Bill Clinton. Might Starmer have to fork out the £1,978 membership fee? Reflecting on the resignation of married Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, after he was caught on camera cuddling a female colleague at a Coldplay concert, Andrew Neil cheekily quips: 'It must have come as a terrible shock/embarrassment to his wife when it was inadvertently revealed he was a fan of Coldplay.' While Nicola Sturgeon faces ridicule after being compared to Barack Obama in an official puff for her upcoming memoirs, the politician's old foe JK Rowling offers her services. 'I am available to review Nicola Sturgeon's memoir,' the billionaire author now announces. 'No fee required, as long as you don't edit out the swear words.' Filming The Hobbit in New Zealand, Stephen Fry defied director Peter Jackson's ban on bungee jumping. 'What had happened was Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, this elf thing, had had a few days off and he went bungee jumping,' recalls Fry. 'And as sometimes happens it made his eyes bulge and pop. And they bulged and they stayed bulged for a few days andso they couldn't film him when he got back. So a memo went out to say no bungee jumping. And I hadn't seen the memo, but fortunately my eyes didn't bulge.' Looking back on accepting an invitation to Colin Tennant's Scottish borders residence, 80s TV presenter Steve Blacknell recalls: 'There clinking on the piano with a cigarette hanging out of her gob, was a very, very p***ed Princess Margaret. She was playing, rather badly, [the John Cleese song] I've Got A Ferret Sticking Up My Nose. And she's saying, 'Well come on, dance!'' Wasn't Mags a great loss to the Vaudeville stage?
Daily Mail
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Press officer who backed Palestine Action's fight against ban is celebrity author's privately-educated daughter who wore £6,000 gown to debutante ball
She once wore a £6,000 couture gown to one of the world's most glamorous debutante balls, rubbing shoulders with royals and Hollywood royalty. But now, Georgie Robertson, the daughter of a bestselling author and a celebrity human rights barrister, is making headlines of a very different kind. The 32-year-old former Labour aide has emerged as a backer of Palestine Action's fight against the controversial organisation being proscribed by the Government under the Terrorism Act. The same woman who dazzled Paris society at the exclusive Crillon Ball in 2009 - an event Tatler calls 'the world's most glamorous debutante ball' - is now helping to coordinate press coverage for the radical movement whose members have been arrested for staging civil disobedience across the UK. Georgie is the daughter of outspoken author Kathy Lette and eminent KC Geoffrey Robertson. In her youth, she was photographed posing for Tatler and mingling with the international elite, including Lady Kitty Spencer, Clint Eastwood 's daughter, and even Indian royalty. Writing about her experience at the Crillon Ball, Robertson once described a weekend of 'an endless flurry of hot hair rollers, make-up, trying on diamonds, couture fittings and fashion shoots.' She called the event a 'fairytale' where 'the aristocracy rub sequinned shoulder pads with the celebritocracy.' She added she had 'shared giggles and gossip' with fellow debutantes, including Angelica Hicks, the great-granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten. Other glamorous outings followed. Robertson attended the Elle Style Awards and the premiere of Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett, in 2013. Privately educated at Queen's College in central London, she later veered sharply leftwards, becoming involved in Labour politics during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. She even stood for the position of Women's Officer for the London Young Labour committee, pledging to 'organise against patriarchy and all other forms of oppression.' Georgie worked in Corbyn's team when he was Leader of the Opposition and was later elected as a Labour councillor in Camden, north London. However, following Corbyn's departure, she was caught up in a legal row with Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party over an alleged leak of an internal antisemitism report. The case was dropped last year. Her high-society connections remain intact with her social media showing her at the Cannes Film Festival and pictured with celebrities including Tim Minchin and Kylie Minogue. But it is her latest role that is causing a stir. Earlier this month, as Palestine Action fought its proscription in court, Robertson appeared to breach legal rules by posting a photograph from inside the Royal Courts of Justice. The image, which shows Mr Justice Chamberlain presiding over the case, was captioned: 'Nearly 9 hours so far, waiting with baited breath.' Taking photos inside a courtroom is a criminal offence. Yet just 24 hours later, she was back briefing journalists, this time on behalf of Defend Our Juries (DOJ), a new left-wing pressure group backing Palestine Action. The campaign, which Robertson described as an 'Orwellian nightmare,' encourages civil disobedience in defiance of the Government's ban. Her mother, Kathy Lette, once joked about her daughter's dramatic transformation, quipping that Georgie had gone 'from one extreme to the other, from Marxism to Marie Antoinette.' The Home Office's decision to outlaw Palestine Action last Saturday has already led to a wave of arrests. More than 70 protesters have now been detained during two weekends of coordinated demonstrations. In London alone, 41 people were held for showing support for a proscribed group, with some carrying cardboard signs reading: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' At a DOJ protest in Central London last weekend, supporters once again gathered with handmade signs, despite warnings from police. Similar events took place in Manchester and Cardiff. Greater Manchester Police arrested 16 people, while South Wales Police detained 13 protesters in Cardiff city centre. The Met said arrests were made for breaches of the Terrorism Act, including 'supporting proscribed groups through chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos.' Despite the escalating crackdown, Palestine Action's founder Huda Ammori has called on activists to continue with 'organised civil disobedience.' The movement shows no signs of slowing down — and with Georgie Robertson now a central figure in the public campaign, it seems the girl who once sparkled in Parisian ballrooms has found a very different kind of spotlight.
Times
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Palestine Action activist wore £6,000 gown to debutante ball
The Crillon Ball is described by Tatler as the 'world's most glamorous debutante ball'. Georgie Robertson came out to society in a £6,000 gown, alongside Princess Diana's niece Lady Kitty Spencer, and boasted afterwards of a 'fairytale event in which the aristocracy rub sequinned shoulder pads with the celebritocracy'. Fast forward to 2025 and the 32-year-old daughter of Kathy Lette, the author, and Geoffrey Robertson KC, the human rights lawyer, has swapped pearls for protest. The former Labour press officer under Jeremy Corbyn was helping Palestine Action with its press coverage as it fought being proscribed by the government in court. Her spell volunteering for the pro-Palestinian protest group is the latest twist in a life that her mother joked went 'from one extreme to the other, from Marxism to Marie Antoinette'. In an article written after the Crillon Ball in 2009, Robertson said the weekend in Paris was 'an endless flurry of hot hair rollers, make-up, trying on diamonds, couture fittings and fashion shoots' — which included posing for Tatler. She recounted having 'shared giggles and gossip' with Clint Eastwood's daughter, an Indian princess, Lady Kitty Spencer and Angelica Hicks, the great-granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten. Other society outings included the Elle Style Awards and the UK premiere of Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett, in 2013. Robertson was schooled at the private Queen's College in central London. She stood for election as women's officer for the London Young Labour committee, pledging to 'work with grassroots women's campaigns to collectively organise against patriarchy and all other forms of oppression'. She went on to work in Corbyn's office when he was leader of the opposition, before being elected as a Labour councillor in Camden, north London. After Sir Keir Starmer became leader, the Labour Party pursued Robertson and several other Corbyn-era staff with legal action, accusing them of leaking a report about antisemitism in the party to the press. The case was dropped in 2024. Social media shows Robertson continues to mix with celebrities such as Tim Minchin, the comic and composer, and Kylie Minogue. She also attended the Cannes film festival. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Weeks later, during a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice as Palestine Action fought its proscription, she posted a photo on Instagram showing Mr Justice Chamberlain being addressed by a barrister acting for the group, with the caption: 'Nearly 9 hours so far, waiting with baited breath.' It is a criminal offence to take photographs inside a courtroom. Less than 24 hours later, she continued to brief journalists on the activities of Defend Our Juries, a left-wing pressure group that has launched a campaign of civil disobedience against Palestine Action's proscription, calling it an 'Orwellian nightmare'. The campaign has led to the arrest of dozens of protesters for holding signs that read 'I support Palestine Action'. An escalating series of protests is being supported by Palestine Action's founder Huda Ammori, who told 1,000 supporters that organised civil disobedience 'will make the ban unenforceable'. Defend Our Juries was set up by Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer who was debarred for leaking court documents. • Police defend arrest of 83-year-old Palestine Action activist Over the last two Saturdays, police have made over 100 arrests under terror laws after the group co-ordinated sit-in protests around the country. Dozens more are expected on Saturday in Parliament Square in London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester and Truro in Cornwall. The protesters, who held signs that read 'I support Palestine Action', risked prison as the direct action group was banned under the Terrorism Act from July 5. Crosland said he hoped the protests will 'expose the absurdity' of the proscription. In a briefing for activists taking part in the protests last week, Crosland said the ban 'is like something out of George Orwell, it's a mad insult to the intelligence of us all'. He added: 'As long as we turn up in numbers we expose this.' Crosland set up Defend Our Juries to protest the treatment of environmental activists in trials and to push jurors to acquit defendants according to their conscience. He was called to the bar in 1994 and worked as a criminal defence barrister, which included representing death row inmates on appeal in New Orleans. He became deputy director of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and head of cyber and information law at the National Crime Agency, which replaced it. He was then head of legal at the National Criminal Intelligence Service. He later became director of Plan B, an environmental campaign group. In 2020, Crosland was found guilty of contempt of court and fined £5,000 for leaking an embargoed Supreme Court ruling about the third Heathrow runway on Twitter. Before his contempt hearing, Crosland said: 'If fighting for my children's lives makes me a criminal, then so be it.' The judges ruled there is 'no such thing as a justifiable contempt of court'. In 2023, Crosland was disbarred by an independent disciplinary tribunal, following charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board. The group claims protesters who are on remand or in prison for causing a public nuisance or criminal damage are 'political prisoners' and has previously counted Chris Packham and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall among its supporters. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. A notable protest was held outside the appeal at the High Court in London in January of 16 Just Stop Oil activists who had shut down the M25. About 1,000 Defend Our Juries activists blocked the street. An open letter co-ordinated by the group was signed by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as well as Sandi Toksvig, the television presenter, and Danny Boyle, the director. The group was also critical when courts barred defendants from making political arguments in their defence, claiming this kept 'the truth' from jurors. When climate protests folded under the weight of new police powers and tough sentencing, Defend Our Juries turned its attention towards Gaza. Defend Our Juries was associatied with Palestine Action before its ban, having signed a 'statement of solidarity' in November last year. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. The protests over the last two weekends have been organised on the encrypted messaging apps Signal and Telegram, with online briefings given to hundreds of potential participants on Zoom. Each person is directed towards carefully prepared briefing notes online, and handed signs and so-called 'bust cards' with solicitors' details in case of arrest. Those involved in the protests include activists who were repeatedly arrested in the Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil campaigns.
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Kathy Lette looks back: ‘Older women are invisible, so I make sure to do something outrageous every day'
Born in 1958 in Sydney, Kathy Lette burst on to Australia's literary scene in 1979 with Puberty Blues. Co‑written with Gabrielle Carey, the irreverent portrait of teenage girlhood became a cult classic, a film and a TV series. Relocating to London in the 1980s, Lette has worked as a columnist, television writer and campaigner, and has published a string of bestselling comic novels. She lives in London and has two children, Julius and Georgina, with her former husband, the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. Her latest novel, The Revenge Club, is out now. When I was 19, I was in a band called the Salami Sisters. As well as the occasional gig in a pub, we'd busk. The problem was, we kept getting arrested. I was furious. How come we were getting arrested for singing, when actual rapists were running free? My sister was a police constable at the time, so one day I borrowed – stole, really – her uniform and went out busking, performing send-up songs about the police. Fortunately, I didn't get arrested for impersonating an officer. I'm a woman with the courage of my convictions, but I don't particularly want to go to prison. Mainly I just wanted to blow some raspberries at the police, which I happily did. Before busking, I was a surfy girl who spent a lot of time with surfy boys. While their blond hair, blue eyes and incredible ice-cream cone physiques were beautiful, they were emotional bonsai. You had to put fertiliser on them to get any feeling out. They were incredibly sexist, too – all brawn and no brain. So by the time I was 16, I was over good-looking guys and obsessed with creative geniuses instead. Specifically, Spike Milligan. I loved his books – Puckoon, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall – and knew all of his poetry by heart. When I got news he was touring Australia with a one-man show, I ran away from school, to the horror of my mother, who was a headmistress. Along with my girlfriend, we hitchhiked across the country, relying on the kindness of passing serial killers to get us from Adelaide to Melbourne to Canberra. I would wait for Spike in hotel foyers, and bombard him with poetry and songs. He couldn't get rid of me, and in the end adopted me. He even wrote it on the back of an envelope: 'I, Spike Milligan, adopt Kathy Lette as my unofficial daughter.' I was crazy in love with him, and he could have easily taken advantage of that, but he didn't. It was love from the neck up, and often a little like having a sugar daddy, without the sex: me and my girlfriend were sleeping rough at the time, so he'd put us up in hotel rooms. Spike was always adorable, but some days he was so blue. If I could go back to that time, I'd try to talk to him about his depression. Perhaps I could have helped him, in exchange for all his kindness to me. Instead, on the days he was down, I'd sing to him. Sometimes that would depress him even more, other times I like to think it jolted him out of sadness. Spike was the first adult who took me seriously as a writer. At that tender age, all a writer craves is reassurance. I'd been sending my work to publishers for more than a year and received a whole forest of rejection letters in the form of patronising put‑downs from Conan the Grammarians – those men who've been at university for so long they've got ivy growing up the backs of their legs. Spike was their antithesis. Thanks to his encouragement, I wrote Puberty Blues. The book became a huge success and, much to my amazement, around the time this photo was taken, I went from overnight nonentity to overnight notoriety. It was quite a rollercoaster ride. A lot of parents banned their kids from reading it because it was about the sexist brutality of surfy culture and sexual initiations – in fact, Kylie Minogue, who is a friend of mine, says she read it secretly in bed at night with a torch. My mother only recently told me how many death threats and anonymous phone calls she got saying, 'You call yourself a teacher when you've raised a slut like that?' Luckily, she didn't tell me at the time. I would have been devastated. I have come to realise that there is nothing more powerful than a girls' night out. Swinging off a chandelier with a cocktail between your teeth is cheaper and more fun than therapy. Without it, without your girlfriends, you can lose your identity. The closest I came to feeling like that was when I had my first baby. I was walking through Harrods with my mum, saying, 'I think I'm back – I feel like I'm getting my brain back.' I proceeded to pick up a perfume spray and spritzed it on my neck. After walking around the entire department store, I realised it was actually white foam and I was covered in it. She said, 'Not quite back yet, darling.' Whether it's puberty, motherhood or menopause, I always write the book I wish I'd had when I was going through it. The only time I didn't do this was with my son. He is autistic, and I didn't want to invade his privacy, so I didn't write about him until he was 21 and had given me permission to. I regret that in a way, because it's always better to shine a light into a dark corner than to ignore it. Seeing the positive joys of neurodiversity, and seeing the stigma taken out of autism, is so wonderful, but that's only because people talk about it now. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The next battle is sexism and ageing. After 19 books published in 17 languages, my publisher dropped me. In fact, all the publishers I approached with The Revenge Club said, 'Nobody wants to read about middle-aged women.' One publisher even said to me, 'Middle-aged women are like Sudan or Mogadishu. We know they exist, but nobody wants to go there.' I kept thinking, 'But all of my women friends have such an incredible hinterland. They've had divorces, breakups, promotions, betrayals, affairs, breakdowns, and have so much wisdom and wit. Who wouldn't want to read that?' It turns out I was right, because the book was a bestseller. When you get to 50, a man becomes a silver fox, whereas a woman is a hag, a bag and a crone. There's a cloak of invisibility just when we enter the peak of our productivity. I am 66 now, and always say to women: have a sensational second act. You are in your prime, even if society says you're not. You're in your sexual prime, as well. But don't necessarily go for an alpha male. I've realised – as an alpha – I need a beta. Which I have. He is a classical guitarist, who adores me. He cooks, he cleans. He is nurturing and kind and happy. I've had two alphas now – two fantastic ex‑husbands – but it's lovely to be taken care of. In so many ways I feel this is the best time of my life. There's so much to look forward to, plus no period cramps, no pregnancy scares, and all that tampon money to spend. I make sure to do something outrageous every day – tonight I'm wearing a tiny black miniskirt and black boots to a party. It's not escaping the law by any means, but it's one small way to go forth and be fabulous.
