Jemima Khan
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Jemima Khan, also known as Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith (born January 30, 1964, London), ex-wife of cricketer Imran Khan, is a British socialite and a UK ambassador for UNICEF.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Goldsmith is the daughter of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and aristocrat Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. When Jemima was born, both her parents were married to other people.[2]. After the birth of her brother Zac in 1975, her mother and father proceeded to divorce their respective spouses. Her parents were married in 1978..[3] Throughout the marriage, Jemima's father maintained simultaneous relationships with his second wife, Jemima's mother and his mistresses,[4] among them Jemima's own first cousin Lady Cosima Somerset, daughter of Annabel's brother, the 9th Marquess of Londonderry.[5]
Her parents had another child together Ben in 1980. In 1981, her father moved to New York with Laure Boulay, Comtesse de la Meurthe,[6] his mistress[7] and a member of the Bourbon family, leaving Jemima and her siblings at home in Surrey, England with their mother.[8] However her parents remained married until her father's death.[9],
She has two younger brothers Zac Goldsmith and Ben Goldsmith as well as several half-siblings: Isabel Goldsmith from her father's first marriage, Alix and Manes from her father's second marriage and Jethro and Charlotte from her father's relationship with Boulay de la Meurthe.[10]
From her mother's first marriage she has two brothers Rupert and Robin Birley and a sister India Jane Birley.
Jemima is said to have been the apple of her father's eye.
She excelled academically at Francis Holland School Clarence Gate and has also proved to be a talented horsewoman. It seemed likely that she would become a professional equestrian[11] but Jemima chose to continue her studies.
In 1993, she enrolled for an English degree at Bristol University.
In 1995 she met the Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan, in a nightclub. Though he was almost twice her age, she was taken with Imran, a charismatic Oxford graduate. His politics and religious ideology both inspired and appealed to her. Her curiosity piqued, Jemima began to study Islam and she eventually decided to convert. She embraced Islam and it was reported that she had changed her first name from Jemima to Haiyqa, but she later denied this in an interview with British magazine Vogue.[citation needed]
[edit] Marriage & Politics
In May 1995 she married Imran Khan in London, England.[12] The ceremony was held in Urdu. Their promoters presented their marriage as holding unique charm in what they hailed as a new, multicultural Britain.
Imran set out to pursue a career in politics as the leader of the Movement for Justice Party in Pakistan. Jemima working tirelessly with her husband, became fluent in Urdu and had their first son Suleiman in 1997 while campaigning to improve the literacy level in Pakistan. Their second son, Qasim, was born in 1999.
After moving to Pakistan with her husband she embarked on a series of business ventures, including her own brand of tomato ketchup and the "Jemima Khan" fashion label which closed in 2001. All profits from her entrepreneurial ventures went to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer hospital, named for her husband's mother.
In Lahore, Khan lived in very simple, traditional conditions in her father-in-law's house with her extended family. She explained,"I think the fact that I was very young made it easier to adjust and fit in. Certainly, I couldn’t make a change like that now."[13]
The fact that she hailed from a famous Western Jewish family would prove to be of great consequence for her husband's political career. She was vilified in many Pakistani newspapers. Religious groups demanded that her citizenship be revoked. Demonstrations ensued. Khan was even arrested and detained for allegedly smuggling antiques. The charges proved to be false. This put enormous pressure on her marriage. Of her experiences she said:"I had to over-conform, and I had to make a double effort to be seen to do the right thing, because I was a foreigner with a Jewish background. I was his Achilles heel, politically, and he has a reputation for being honest and straightforward and uncorrupt. So a way of attacking him was to attack me."[14]
Their marriage suffered yet another blow when it was revealed that another British heiress, Sita White, had a child by Imran Khan prior to his marriage to Jemima. Though her husband vigorously denied his paternity of White's child, it was believed by many that he was indeed the father of Tyrian.[15]
[edit] Return To London
Jemima Khan moved to London in 2003 to study for a Master's degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Imran Khan announced in June 2004 that he and his wife had divorced. Khan lives in the UK while her two sons spend time in Pakistan and the UK. She dated English actor Hugh Grant until Feb. 16, 2007. Khan and Grant, along with Jemima's two sons Suleiman and Qasim, flew out to Barbados on Boxing Day to see in 2006 together.
Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan have now separated. The split comes days after the couple attended the London and New York premieres of Grant's new film, Music and Lyrics.
[edit] References
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1868158,00.html
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=405211&in_page_id=1879&in_a_source=
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1868158,00.html
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=405211&in_page_id=1879&in_a_source=
- ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19970727/ai_n14465936
- ^ http://www.thepeerage.com/p5917.htm
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=393668&in_page_id=1879
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4544600.stm
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=405211&in_page_id=1879&in_a_source=
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=393668&in_page_id=1879
- ^ http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/jemimakhan/
- ^ http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/jemimakhan/
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1868158,00.html
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1868158,00.html
- ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsite5/bin/pdinventory.pl?pdlanding=1&referid=2930&purchase_type=ITM&item_id=0286-8575444
[edit] External links
- Jemima Khan. Hello! magazine website. Retrieved on 2006-06-05.
- (2005-11-12) "Life lessons". Times Online. Retrieved on 2006-06-05.
- The real Jemima Khan. Despardes. Retrieved on 2006-06-05.
