EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Eric Clapton ends six-year rift with his daughter Ruth
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Eric Clapton ends six-year rift with his daughter Ruth which was sparked when he turned up to his 70th birthday party dressed as Kermit the Frog
When Eric Clapton’s daughter Ruth revealed that the rock god had turned up to his 70th birthday party dressed as Kermit the Frog, it triggered a feud that led to her heart-breaking declaration: ‘We no longer have a relationship.’
While family and friends feared their estrangement would be irreparable, I am happy to disclose that the guitarist, known as Slowhand, has healed their rift after six years.
It is, however, bitter-sweet for aspiring musician Ruth because the emotional reunion comes as she makes public the collapse of her marriage to Dean Bartlett, the father of her two children.
Wonderful tonight: Ruth and dad Eric at her wedding in 2011. Praising her family for ‘helping me’ and giving ‘the best support’, she addresses her relationship with Clapton, 76, for the first time since their fallout
‘I’ve gone through a really rough time,’ says Ruth, 36, whose mother is recording studio manager Yvonne Kelly. ‘I’m about to navigate my way through a divorce — a decision that neither of us has taken lightly. All we want for each other is happiness, even if that can’t be achieved together.
‘We will continue to work together to co-parent our children and I hope we can do that well.’
Praising her family for ‘helping me’ and giving ‘the best support’, she addresses her relationship with Clapton, 76, for the first time since their fallout.
‘I’m always checking in with him,’ she says. ‘He’s doing really good, I’m very grateful for that. He’s itching to get back out there like all musicians.’
When Eric Clapton’s daughter Ruth revealed that the rock god had turned up to his 70th birthday party dressed as Kermit the Frog, it triggered a feud that led to her heart-breaking declaration: ‘We no longer have a relationship’
Clapton, whose songs include Wonderful Tonight and Layla, fathered Ruth during an affair with Yvonne while he was married to George Harrison’s ex-wife, model Pattie Boyd.
It was not publicly known that Ruth was his daughter until she attended the 1991 funeral of his four-year-old son, Conor, who fell from the 49th floor of a New York skyscraper.
Clapton sang at Ruth and Dean’s wedding party in 2011 that was attended by 150 guests at his Surrey mansion. The family became divided four years later when Ruth revealed his fascination with the Muppet character.
After he scolded her, their relationship was severed — until now.
While family and friends feared their estrangement would be irreparable, I am happy to disclose that the guitarist, known as Slowhand, has healed their rift after six years
The smart set’s talking about… Gillian’s artsy girl
I can reveal that the 26-year-old, who lives in London, is launching herself as an illustrator using only her first and middle names, Piper Maru
In the Netflix hit drama Sex Education, Gillian Anderson plays an erotic therapist regularly embarrassing her teenage son. In real life, her daughter, Piper, seems keen to keep her distance, too.
I can reveal that the 26-year-old, who lives in London, is launching herself as an illustrator using only her first and middle names, Piper Maru.
‘I’m focusing on illustrative drawings and paintings,’ says Piper, who was previously given work experience in the art department of The X-Files, which propelled Anderson to stardom.
She’s selling her work online, with Anderson the proud owner of a drawing of a plate decorated with snakes. Private commissions cost £300.
Piper grew up in Vancouver with her father, the Canadian television art director Clyde Klotz, who split up with Anderson when she was three.
She then moved to London at the age of 11 to live with her mother.
Her love life is full of peaks and troughs: she’s dating skier Ed Salisbury, 26.
Sotheby girl’s in a model relationship
She’s made an even bigger impression on royal scion Freddy Knatchbull, great-grandson of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
The daughter of Sotheby’s boss Lord Dalmeny, Delphi Primrose, turned heads in the fashion world when she was snapped up by Storm Models, which transformed Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne into stars.
And she’s made an even bigger impression on royal scion Freddy Knatchbull, great-grandson of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.
The handsome pair are courting and Delphi, soon 18, is happy for the world to know, sharing this photograph on Freddy’s 18th birthday of them cuddling.
Freddy, who’s the son of Curzon cinemas boss Philip Knatchbull and his second wife Wendy Leach, is also a model, having finished at £40,125-per-year Radley College this term.
Lady Louise harnesses Philip’s spirit for show
I can reveal that his granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor is to compete at the four-day event, cheered on by her parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Prince Philip will be there in spirit at the Royal Windsor Horse Show next month.
I can reveal that his granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor is to compete at the four-day event, cheered on by her parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
‘All eyes will be on her,’ a family friend tells me. ‘She is naturally very shy, but wants to do something to make everybody proud, including the Queen, who will be watching.’
Lady Louise, 17, was victorious at the last show in 2019, becoming national junior driving champion.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if she drove Philip’s dark-green carriage and fell ponies, Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm? The Duke gave them to her shortly before his death in April aged 99.
They memorably stood in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle on the day of his funeral, with his hat, gloves and whip on the seat and a little box of sugar cubes.
Prince Harry and Meghan sparked a furore when they called their daughter Lilibet, after the Queen’s family pet name.
But hotel heiress Lydia Forte caused nothing but delight when she revealed to her family this week that her newborn girl is to be named after her mother, Aliai. Lydia, 33, who’s married to Greek shipping heir and City banker Dimitri Chandris, tells me: ‘We’ve named her Aliai Christina Artemis Chandris — her grandmothers’ names, and one for luck.’
The daughter of tycoon Sir Rocco Forte has a two-year-old son, Johnny, with her husband, whom she married in 2016.
Sometime BBC ‘golden girl’ Selina Scott is preparing to be buried under an avalanche of slurry when she next ventures onto the lanes around her Yorkshire farmhouse.
The broadcaster-turned-animal rights campaigner has just helped pilot the Animal Welfare Bill through the Commons, which will end the practice of shipping live animals to the Continent for slaughter.
But as many of her neighbours are farmers who have grown rich on this trade, she’s now become their public enemy number one.
‘I’m keeping a weather eye open for the muck spreaders and a bucket load of it to be dropped on me any day now,’ she tells me. ‘I’ve got my wellies and waterproof ready.’
British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw put on a ruffled couture Dior gown and sipped a glass of fizz during her 14-day isolation in Canada
Who says you can’t do glamour while in quarantine? British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw put on a ruffled couture Dior gown and sipped a glass of fizz during her 14-day isolation in Canada, where she’s due to start shooting a new U.S. television drama.
The 38-year-old doctor’s daughter from Oxfordshire dressed up to promote new Marvel superhero series Loki, in which she stars with Tom Hiddleston.
‘I have such a stylish dress-up to play with and cheer me up for isolation,’ she tells fans.
Petra’s new job: flogging her cast-offs
As an heiress to a £2.5 billion fortune, ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Petra scarcely needs any pin money.
But I can disclose that she is selling off part of her vast luxury wardrobe. Petra, 32, and her fiance, Sam Palmer, are to launch a business selling ‘pre-owned designer clothes’ belonging to her and her sister Tamara, 36, who once recorded a video tour of her walk-in wardrobe, which featured 22 pairs of Gucci mules, 81 sets of Victoria’s Secret pyjamas and an entire wall of Chanel bags.
Former used-car salesman Sam says: ‘We’re starting out with our family’s clothes but we’re going to be taking other people’s designer clothes soon. And we want to add other pieces to it as well, like sneakers. We’re both quite into trainers at the moment.
‘We’ve become sneaker addicts.’
(Very) modern manners
I’m not sure I could get away with this, but film director Guy Ritchie’s model wife, Jacqui, turned up at Claridge’s this week in her jim-jams.
Not just any PJs, mind, but a snazzy £220 cotton set. Jacqui, 33, shared this snap of herself enjoying a Cosmopolitan at the Mayfair hotel’s Fumoir Bar.
She jokes: ‘Pyjamas are traditionally loose garments worn for sleeping, working from home, lounging and cocktail hour.’
Talk about a pyjama party.
Not just any PJs, mind, but a snazzy £220 cotton set. Jacqui, 33, shared this snap of herself enjoying a Cosmopolitan at the Mayfair hotel’s Fumoir Bar
How Erin turned posh for her U.S. admirers
Swanlike model Erin O’Connor, who grew up on a council estate in the West Midlands, admits she faked being upper-class while working in the U.S.
‘What I enjoyed was the play on people assuming my identity,’ the Vogue cover star whispers.
‘As soon as I landed in America, I was obviously related to the Queen, and I must have been a blue-blood because I was British.’
The daughter of a furnace builder and teacher adds: ‘I played along with it. I didn’t feel in any way I was betraying my background, but rather, enjoying this need: people needed this idea of me and what they wanted me to be. As long as you’re in on the joke, that’s OK.’
Arresting news for Hastings!
Adrian Dunbar, who plays Police Superintendent Ted Hastings in hit BBC drama Line Of Duty, had a shock of his own this week
Mother of God! Adrian Dunbar, who plays Police Superintendent Ted Hastings in hit BBC drama Line Of Duty, had a shock of his own this week.
His daughter, actress and songwriter Madeleine Dunbar, surprised him when she announced her engagement via text.
The 34-year-old is to marry East End roofer Callum Lazenby-Todd, 31, after she proposed to him on London’s South Bank.
‘We met on the dating app Bumble, and I proposed on the anniversary of our first date,’ she tells me.
‘On Bumble it’s the woman who messages first — so I did everything first.’
His daughter, actress and songwriter Madeleine Dunbar, surprised him when she announced her engagement via text
