Londoner's Diary: India Rose James and her Kooky beau split

In today's Diary: India Rose James and Hugh Harris call it a day | Richard Branson's threesome fantasy with Kate Moss | Helena Morrissey's got a lotta daughters | It's a dog's life for Alan Rusbridger
Rose in Bloom: India Rose James (Image: Getty)
12 September 2017

She moves in her own way... It is with regret that the Londoner hears that Soho heiress India Rose James and Kooks bandmember Hugh Harris have ended their rock ’n’ roll love story.

Over the weekend James, granddaughter of Soho property tycoon Paul Raymond, was at the Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire with two of her female friends and Sapphire, her young daughter with Harris. One of the images was captioned “Three single girls and a baby,” confirming the rumour doing the rounds in Soho that the pair have split. A friend close to India verified this, saying that the separation was “amicable” and took place earlier this year.

The pair, who had Sapphire last summer, met at Brown’s Hotel in 2015 and became an item after James ended her relationship with Will Pelham, the Earl of Yarborough’s son and heir to a £70 million fortune. Harris proposed, with an emerald ring, on the roof of Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly, and they celebrated their engagement at The Groucho Club in October last year but didn’t get round to walking down the aisle. They remain friends, however: they were together at Sapphire’s first birthday party in July.

James, the co-founder of new Soho boutique Arty Farty Fashion Party, has an Instagram feed full of party pictures but parenting is still her main priority. “I love socialising but sometimes I’m out and miss Saffi and want to go back and snuggle,” she said earlier this year. Motherhood is, we assume, made slightly easier by the £454 million fortune she shares with her sister Fawn. Perhaps Hugh should have bought a few more roses?

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Culture Secretary Karen Bradley made a whistle-stop tour last night of Rachel Whiteread’s retrospective at Tate Britain. She spent about 20 minutes admiring the show, which officially opened today, guided by Tate director Maria Balshaw. Then Bradley apologised as she had to return to the House of Commons for the Brexit bill vote. “Well, at least she came,” said one Tate curator. “Even if she went back to vote on a bill few in the arts world want.”

Branson finds his virginity with Moss

If only: Richard Branson and Kate Moss

Sometimes a story is too good to be true. Richard Branson, who has just unbattened the hatches at Necker Island, is preparing for the release of his new book Finding My Virginity. In it, he pays tribute to his friend Kate Moss, who works and plays harder than anyone he knows, he says. He writes that he once had a newspaper call to tell him of “a front-page splash that I had a cocaine-fueled threesome with Kate and Keith Richards.

“My first thought was: what a great story — do I really have to set them straight? It wouldn’t have helped Kate’s image… it might have helped mine and Keith’s.”

Quote of the Day

"The French make the best wine, the English just play at it.... We make the best cheddar, we make great pasties and the French can’t make pork pies."

Marco Pierre White, who says English wine isn’t up to much — but, then again, nor can the French do a good Melton Mowbray

Supermum's enormous family say cheese

Sister Act: The six Morrissey girls Flo, Millie, Clara, Oki, Cecily and Bea (Image by Sophie Harris-Taylor)

Would you believe these six girls aren’t even all the children in the household?

Congratulations to Sophie Harris-Taylor, a photographer selected for the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain exhibition, in association with JCDecaux and Nikon. Her work makes her one to watch but the subjects, part of her Sisters project, may also look familiar.

Watched over by the Virgin Mary, they are the six daughters of Helena Morrissey, founder of the 30 Percent Club, hedge fund icon and writer of forthcoming book A Good Time To Be A Girl. Third from the left is Flo, Helena’s eldest daughter, who is an up-and-coming singer.

Not pictured are Helena’s three sons, Fitz, Tuppy and Theo.

It takes a village to raise a family. It takes a superwoman to raise the Morrisseys.

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Livia's in the air! Livia Firth, founder of sustainable fashion brand consultancy Eco Age and wife of the debonair actor Colin, added a new string to her bow this weekend: she was master of ceremonies for the marriage of her friends Sebastian and Adriano. Livia risked flying in the face of tradition by wearing white to someone else’s wedding — she chose a Beulah gown — but the grooms didn’t seem to mind. Did she catch the bouquet too?

Dogged in pursuit of fame

Top Dog: Alan Rusbridger's pug (@arusbridger)

One of Alan Rusbridger’s former colleagues has a bone to pick with him. The former editor of The Guardian and principal of Lady Margaret Hall took his adorable black pug Hamish to a street party dog show, and didn’t come away empty-handed. “Like Edward G Robinson and Harrison Ford, he never bagged the big prize,” Rusbridger wrote on Instagram, “but this year was given lifetime achievement award.”

But was something afoot? Marc Sands, former marketing director at The Guardian and now chief marketing officer at Christie’s, waded in. “Once again a fix,” he joked in the comments section. “And the achievement was? Two years ago you were caught bribing the judge, if I remember clearly — which I do.”

Rusbridger hit back. “A) have you got a good libel lawyer?” he asked. “B) can you afford her?”

Hamish’s award is actually rather deserved: he and his fellow canine Bonnie have become the Oxford college’s mascots since their arrival, and the are even on a calendar. It’s a dog’s life...

Tweet of the Day

“Haven’t they suffered enough?”

Larry the Cat responds to Boris Johnson heading to the Caribbean in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Irma.

Tribute of the day: actor Sam Neill has named his new calf after his Jurassic Park co-star Laura Dern. The baby cow’s mother, named Helena Bonham Carter, is doing well.

Debbie and George in fashion

Move over, Cara! Original style icons Debbie Harry and Boy George made a striking pair at last night’s Vin + Omi’s party at the Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street. With London Fashion Week about to start, thank goodness there are still trailblazers on the frow.

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