Her extraordinary life made her the star of Too Posh To Parent, Channel 4’s marmalade-dropper of a documentary charting the lives of the stupendously rich – and the armies of staff who attend them.
But statuesque socialite and fashion designer Nina Naustdal is herself now in shock – following a break-in by two masked raiders at her £10 million West London townhouse.
‘Your home is supposed to be your safe space,’ a traumatised Nina tells me, explaining that the intruders struck in the early evening while she was travelling abroad.
But her home was far from empty. ‘The children were sleeping. What would have happened if one of them woke up? It’s terrifying.’
By a stroke of luck, Nina’s teenage children – a boy and two girls – remained asleep and weren’t alerted to the burglary until they went into her room, which had been ransacked.
Socialite and fashion designer Nina Naudstel, who starred in the Channel 4 documentary Too Posh to Parent
Nina Naustdal is in shock – following a break-in by two masked raiders at her £10 million West London townhouse
By a stroke of luck, Nina’s teenage children – a boy and two girls – remained asleep and weren’t alerted to the burglary
‘They just saw all these things missing,’ says Nina, who was born in Norway and numbers Nancy Dell’Olio and Sinitta among clients of her eponymous label. ‘They called the police straight away.’
‘It’s horrible what’s happening in London at the moment,’ reflects Nina, explaining that she is convinced that her house was targeted.
‘They were quick in and quick out. They knew exactly what they were going for’ – her jewellery and, she adds, ‘quite a few very rare Hermes bags’. She refrains from going into further detail. But the most expensive Hermes bag – the Birkin – can go for a stupefying £200,000.
As might be expected, emotional violation matters more to Nina than material loss. ‘I really want these people off the street,’ she adds.
‘If nothing gets done, you’re always going to have it in the back of your [mind], ‘Are these people going to come again?’
CCTV footage has given her hope. But Nina acknowledges that she is considering ‘other places that might be safer for the family’.
She adds: ‘The police said there is so much of this going on. It’s completely out of control. It just keeps happening again and again and again.’
Princess Martha fiance’s less than gallant reaction on first meeting: ‘Run!’
One can only hope Princess Martha Louise of Norway’s husband-to-be Durek Verrett’s cold feet won’t stop them from exchanging their vows today.
While the Princess, 52, tells her groom – a bisexual shaman known as ‘Hollywood’s hottest guru’ – ‘it felt like I came home when I met you. It was very deep for me and also very free because I could be whoever I wanted and you would love me anyway’ – he admits it wasn’t love at first sight.
‘What I felt was something completely different, I was scared, I was afraid of you. I was like ‘Run, Forrest, run’,’ he told his bride-to-be, quoting the famous scene from Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump, in a pre-wedding podcast they’ve done together.
He adds: ‘Literally I ran because I was scared. When you meet love you won’t always meet it like Martha would meet it. I’ve been hurt by a lot of women in my past so I was afraid she was going to hurt me.’
Princess Martha Louise and Derek Verrett pictured in Norway
Thrones star flies flag for controversial Carnival
Games of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel is turning a blind eye to the criticism of Notting Hill Carnival, which she attended earlier this week on Monday’s bank holiday.
Despite this year’s event coming under fire for a spate of violence including eight stabbings, one of which left a young mother in a coma, Nathalie, 35, insists ‘Carnival was always about resistance, defiance and liberation.’
Emmanuel, who celebrated her West Indian roots at the festivities, sported a bejewelled pink costume which she shared in a snap online.
‘I could cry at the joy and love that I experience at carnival every year… and by the way… We’re not going anywhere,’ she says.
Nathalie Emmanuel, who celebrated her West Indian roots at the festivities, sported a bejewelled pink costume which she shared in a snap online
The smart set’s talking about… Petrolhead Abbi, Country Life’s latest Girl in Pearls
Once the preserve of royalty and demure debutantes, Country Life magazine’s ‘Girls in Pearls’ frontis page has been revved up for its latest star.
Making her debut in this week’s edition is Abbi Pulling, who this year became the first woman to top the podium in a Formula 4 race. The 21-year-old can be seen posing in her black and pink race suit at Rodin Motorsport’s HQ in Farnham, Surrey.
‘The attention the F1 Academy gets is incredible,’ says the Lincolnshire sports star, who will headline a Netflix documentary being produced by Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
‘It’s great that they’re putting us on that platform, putting us on Netflix, and having people follow us around, showing the behind the scenes of what it is like to be a racing driver,’ says Abbi.
Pictured: Abbi Pulling, who this year became the first woman to top the podium in a Formula 4 race
She adds: ‘It’s not just getting in and out of the car – there’s so much more that goes on, arguably ten times more off-track work than it is on track.
‘So, it’s great that it’s bringing a light to it, and just women’s sport in general. It’s a great time to be a woman in motorsport.’
Queen Camilla’s old designer friend Nicky Haslam prides himself on making good hamburgers.
Describing the recipe, which includes lean beef and pork, he tells Tatler readers: ‘I used to make these burgers at my ranch in Arizona. The cowboys, used to vast T-bone steaks, thought them fearfully poncey.
But you won’t.’
Keep it to yourself, but one of Britain’s most rugged adventurers enjoyed a night on the tiles with a Hollywood star which left both men in need of plenty of coffee on the morning after – an almost new experience for the Hollywood man. He’s said to have renounced the demon drink years ago.
Home is where the giraffe is, says Dara
Dara Huang, the mother of Princess Beatrice’s stepson Wolfie, was overjoyed to have met a tall order from her client in the Hamptons – who wanted a life-sized robot giraffe to be installed within their property.
Yet, the US-born architect, who showed off the creation online, failed to impress one follower, who accused her of putting her career before motherhood.
‘Get back to your son,’ they wrote, to which she replied: ‘It’s called co-parenting. I had him [Wolfie] for a month so now his dad has him,’ referring to Bea’s husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi.
Dara Huang, the architect mother of Princess Beatrice’s stepson Wolfie, unveils her latest work which features a giant bespoke giraffe installed into the living room of her client
Life’s rosé for Di’s winemaker godson
Bottoms up in Wiltshire! Princess Diana’s godson Jack Bartholomew, 35 – son of the Princess’s old flatmate and school friend, Carolyn Bartholomew, who is herself godmother to Prince Harry – is readying himself for harvest at his 14-acre vineyard, Carvers Hill, in Shalbourne.
Its inaugural vintage last year yielded a ‘beautifully pale and refreshing rosé’, though, as Jack’s 21,000 vines mature, it’s hoped in future they’ll also produce a quaffable red. ‘Jack’s a good lad,’ one of his cricketing chums tells me, though cautioning against any hope he’ll be sending a case to Lady Sarah McCorquodale – Diana’s sister.
As executor of Diana’s will, Lady Sarah and her mother, Frances, won High Court approval to ignore Diana’s ‘letter of wishes’ in which she directed that her 17 godchildren were to share a quarter of her £17m estate.
Instead, she famously drove round the country to give ‘trinkets’ to the godchildren – one: a framed print from Argos. Perhaps Jack will treat her to a bottle – drained before delivery.
Bunter Beaufort pitches in on disgraced BBC star
The Duke of Beaufort has intervened in the controversy around the BBC’s sacking of Match Of The Day pundit Jermaine Jenas.
‘I think the public should be told what Jermaine Jenas’s texts were,’ reflects Henry John FitzRoy Somerset, or ‘Bunter’, as the 72-year-old Duke has been affectionately known since his Eton days.
‘Obviously if they were genuinely inappropriate it was right he was fired, but if for example it was ‘you are attractive and I want to go to bed with you’, that is harmless banter.’
Perhaps Bunter will invite Jenas, 41, to his estate, where there are 52,000 acres in which to let off steam – not to mention 40 bedrooms in the family seat, Badminton House.
(Very) modern manners
Is Lottie Moss’s X-rated lifestyle going to be a source of further embarrassment to her half-sister, Kate?
She confesses: ‘I’ve had sex in the Tape [nightclub] toilets and his bodyguard was standing outside so we were good, it was safe, and it was lockdown.’
The OnlyFans star additionally discloses: ‘I’ve also had sex in train toilets.’ High speed?
Orlando Bloom had to namedrop his pop star fiancee Katy Perry at a charity gala on the French Riviera to get bidders to fork out to spend a day on set with him. ‘He was struggling to pull in bids until he mentioned Katy,’ one guest tells me.
The Lord Of The Rings star assured his audience: ‘My partner Katy Perry loves to visit. So, there is an outside chance she’ll be there if you wanted to come and visit.’ The lot went for £125,000. No pressure, Katy…
Actress Sveva’s snipe at Cannes
Bilingual actress Sveva Alviti has enjoyed the best of both worlds, having starred in both Italian and French language films. Yet she admits the Venice Film Festival is much more chi-chi
Bilingual actress Sveva Alviti has enjoyed the best of both worlds, having starred in both Italian and French language films.
Yet she admits the Venice Film Festival, which she is hosting, is much more chi-chi than its younger sister Cannes on the French Riviera.
‘I still get goosebumps being in Venice,’ says Italian Sveva, who last night attended Campari’s Destination Red event at the city’s Nicelli Airport.
‘Cannes tends to be focused on fashion but in Venice, as we’re a little bit smaller, we’re really focusing on cinema 100 per cent,’ she tells me.
Sveva, 40, adds: ‘The glamour in Venice is from the acting talent, not bloggers or influencers. I couldn’t have aske