Jemima Goldsmith

Jemima Goldsmith

Jemima Khan at the GAVI conference
Born Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith
(1974-01-30) 30 January 1974
Westminster, London
Other names Jemima Khan
Citizenship United Kingdom and Pakistan[1]
Alma mater University of Bristol
SOAS
Occupation Journalist, campaigner
Spouse(s) Imran Khan (m. 1995; div. 2004)
Children 2
Parent(s) Sir James Goldsmith
Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart
Relatives Zac Goldsmith (brother)
Ben Goldsmith (brother)
Clio Goldsmith (cousin)

Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith (/dʒᵻˈmaɪmə/; also known as Jemima Khan; born 30 January 1974) is an English journalist, heiress, and campaigner.[2][3][4] She is an associate editor of New Statesman and European editor-at-large for Vanity Fair.[5][6]

Early life and education

Born in London's Westminster Hospital Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith is the eldest child of Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart and financier Sir James Goldsmith. Her mother was from an Anglo-Irish family and her father, the son of luxury hotel tycoon and former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Major Frank Goldsmith, who was a member of the prominent Goldsmith family, which was of Jewish and French background.[7] Her parents had a polyamorous relationship in which they were married to different partners but, in 1978, they married to legitimise their children.[8] Goldsmith has two younger brothers, Zac Goldsmith and Ben Goldsmith, and five paternal and three maternal half-siblings, including Robin Birley and India Jane Birley.[9]

Goldsmith grew up at Ormeley Lodge and attended the Old Vicarage preparatory school and Francis Holland School. From age 10 to 17, she was an accomplished equestrian in London.[8] Goldsmith enrolled at the University of Bristol in 1993 and studied English, but dropped out when she was married in 1995. She eventually completed her bachelor's degree in March 2002 with upper second-class honours.[10][11] In 2003, she received her MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,[12] focusing on Modern Trends in Islam.[13]

Marriage to Imran Khan

Goldsmith married Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer, celebrity and philanthropist who later turned to politics, on 16 May 1995 in a traditional Islamic ceremony in Paris.[14] They also had a civil ceremony on 21 June 1995 at the Richmond Register Office,[15] followed by a midsummer ball at Ormeley Lodge.[16] A few months before her wedding, she converted to Islam,[17] [9][10] citing the writings of Muhammad Asad, Charles le Gai Eaton and Alija Izetbegović as her influences.[17] In Lahore, Pakistan, she learned to speak Urdu and also wore traditional Pakistani clothes.

She wrote in a 2008 article for The Times that she "over-conformed in [her] eagerness to be accepted" into the "new and radically different culture" of Pakistan.[18]

She stated that prior to her conversion to Islam, she was technically Anglican but "was made familiar with Jewish traditions", since her paternal grandfather Frank Goldsmith was German Jewish.[19] During her marriage, her Jewish heritage was used by Imran Khan's political opponents to question their credibility in Pakistani politics, especially concerning accusations that they supported the Jewish lobby.[20][21]

In 1999, she was charged in Pakistan with illegally exporting Islamic era antique tiles. She said that the charge was a fabrication to harass and damage her husband,[22] but nevertheless left Pakistan to stay with her mother for fear of incarceration.[23] After General Pervez Musharraf overthrew elected Prime Minister Navaz Sharif in a coup d'état, in 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Archaeology verified the tiles were not antiques, and the Pakistani court dropped the charges, allowing her to return to Lahore.[22]

She supported her husband as he became more involved in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (a.k.a. "Justice Movement") party.[24] Imran became a member of Pakistan's parliament in 2002 and has been a "vociferous critic of President Pervez Musharraf".[24]

On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the couple had divorced ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".[24] The marriage ended amicably. Imran has said the six months leading to the divorce and the six months after were the hardest year of his life. After the divorce Jemima returned to Britain with the former couple's two sons; according to the divorce settlement Khan's boys visit him in Pakistan during their school holidays while he stays with his former mother-in-law, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, when he comes to London to see them. According to Jemima, Imran and she remain on good terms.[21][24][25]

Journalism career

Although she had written articles when she lived in Pakistan,[1] she started contributing to op-eds to England's newspapers and magazines including The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard and the Observer.[26][27][28][29] In 2008, she was granted an exclusive interview with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the eve of the elections for The Independent.[30] She was a Sunday Telegraph columnist from 21 October 2007 to 27 January 2008.[31]

She was a feature writer and a contributing editor for British Vogue from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, she was appointed Vanity Fair's new European editor-at-large.[32] She was also associate editor at The Independent.[33]

In April 2011, she guest-edited the New Statesman and themed the issue around freedom of speech. She interviewed the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and included contributions from Russell Brand, Tim Robbins, Simon Pegg, Oliver Stone, Tony Benn, and Julian Assange, with cover art by Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst.[34] According to Nick Cohen in the Observer "Jemima Khan was by a country mile the best editor of the New Statesman that that journal has had since the mid-1970s".[35] The magazine issue included "an unexpected scoop" from Hugh Grant who went undercover to hack Paul McMullan, a former News of the World journalist, who had been involved in hacking as a reporter.[36] In November 2011, she joined as an associate editor of the New Statesman.[37]

Film

She was the executive producer for the BAFTA nominated documentary film We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks by Alex Gibney, released in 2013.[38] She was also the co-executive producer for the documentary film, "Unmanned: America's drone wars" by Robert Greenwald released in 2013.[39]

Fashion

In 1998, Jemima launched an eponymous fashion label that employed poor Pakistani women to embroider western clothes with eastern handiwork[40] to be sold in London and New York.[41] Profits were donated to her husband's Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. She ran the organisation until December 2001, when she shut down the business due to the economic situation following the September 11 attacks, and so she could focus on fundraising and on supporting her husband in Pakistani politics.[1][41]

In 2008, she modelled the relaunched Azzaro Couture fragrance and was a guest co-designer of a Spring 2009 collection for Azzaro, with her fee reportedly donated to UNICEF.[42][43]

As voted by Daily Telegraph readers, she won the Rover People's Award for the best dressed female celebrity at the 2001 British Fashion Awards.[44] She was also featured on Vanity Fair's Annual International Best-Dressed List in 2004, 2005 and 2007,[45] the last of which she was inducted into their Best Dressed Hall of Fame.[46]

Philanthropy

She established the Jemima Khan Afghan Refugee Appeal to provide tents, clothing, food, and healthcare for Afghan refugees at Jalozai camp in Peshawar.[1][47][48]

She became an Ambassador for UNICEF UK in 2001, and went on field trips to Kenya, Romania, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last of which she later helped victims of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake by raising emergency funds. She has promoted UNICEF's Breastfeeding Manifesto,[49] Growing Up Alone[50] and End Child Exploitation campaigns in the UK.[51][52]

In 2003, she visited Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza to promote the charity Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation (HOPING).[53]

She continues to support various charity efforts in Pakistan mostly from her organisation, the Jemima Khan Foundation. She also supports the Soil Association[54] and the HOPING foundation for Palestinian refugee children.[55]

Politics and social action

In addition to charities, she campaigns for various social and political causes. In 2007, she set up the Free Pakistan Movement, where she, her family, friends and hundreds of protestors participated in three demonstrations outside Downing Street to protest the state of emergency in Pakistan, during which her former husband was incarcerated.[56] In 2008, she received death threats from Islamic fundamentalists for supporting and speaking at the launch of the Quilliam Foundation, a London-based think tank that focuses on "counter-extremism", including preaching religious tolerance.[57]

With John Pilger and Ken Loach, she was among the six people in Westminster Magistrates Court willing to post bail for Julian Assange when he was arrested in London on 7 December 2010. However, she later changed her mind about Assange, questioning his unwillingness to answer the sexual misconduct allegations which led to his arrest and what she described as his demand for "cultish devotion" from his supporters.[58][59] The bail money was lost in June 2012 when a judge ordered it to be forfeited because Assange had sought to escape the jurisdiction of the English courts by entering the London embassy of Ecuador.[60]

She has campaigned against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as for freedom of information; she attended Assange's extradition hearings and spoke at the Stop the War Coalition's rally in defence of Wikileaks alongside Tony Benn and Tariq Ali. In 2011, she also campaigned against the use of drones by the CIA in Pakistan's tribal areas.[61]

In 2014, she publicly backed "Hacked Off" and its campaign towards UK press self-regulation by "safeguarding the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable."[62][63][64] In August 2014, she was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[65]

Personal life

Goldsmith has two sons from her marriage with Imran Khan: Sulaiman Isa (born 1996) and Qasim (born 1999), and retained Khan as her family name till December 2014 when her ex-husband remarried.[66] On 29 December 2000, she and her family were on a British Airways jet to Kenya which was temporarily knocked off course and dived thousands of feet after a mentally ill passenger tried to seize controls in the cockpit.[67] Her mother later said, "Jemima was frightened of flying even before the incident; she's petrified [now]".[68][69] While she was married, she was described as being shy,[1][70][71] but also modest, stylish and levelheaded.[72][73]

Diana, Princess of Wales, was a close friend of hers, and visited her in Lahore in 1996.[74]

In 2002, she was listed at number 18 with £20m on the Evening Standard's young millionaires list.[75]

Following her divorce in 2004, she returned to London and later became involved in a romantic relationship with Hugh Grant. A 2005 article in the Evening Standard noted that "Jemima's profile" changed from "high during her first marriage" to "soaring since she became involved with Hugh Grant".[76] Her relationship was scrutinised extensively by the tabloids,[77] but a 2005 survey of London visitors favoured them as "the celebrity couple people would most like to show them round London".[78] The relationship continued until February 2007 when Grant announced that they had "decided to split amicably".[79] Grant's spokesman added that he "has nothing but positive things to say about Jemima."[79]

In 2010, she purchased the country house of Kiddington Hall near Woodstock in Oxfordshire for a reported £15 million.[80]

In September 2013, The Daily Telegraph reported that she was dating English activist and actor Russell Brand.[81] In 2014, rumours of an imminent engagement started to arise.[82] In September, she and Brand separated.[83][84] In October 2014, she announced she was changing her surname back to the original Goldsmith.[85]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Khan, Sairah Irshad (November 2002). "I think the world of politics is pretty sleazy". Newsline. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007. Well, I have Pakistani citizenship and I have British citizenship, so I'm a dual national. I still have my roots in England, but I feel quite tied to Pakistan. I live here, my children go to school here. My life is in Pakistan now.
  2. ↑ Burrell, Ian (18 December 2010). "Jemima Khan: Just don't call her a socialite". The Independent (London). Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Curtis, Nick (17 December 2010). "How Jemima Khan became Jem of the arrestocracy". London Evening Standard (London). Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Shamsie, Kamila (20 November 2007). "In praise of Jemima Khan, the unlikely freedom fighter". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  5. ↑ "Jemima Khan". New Statesman. 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  6. ↑ "Jemima Khan | European editor-at-large for Vanity Fair". PakistanHerald.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  7. ↑ Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith, Ivan Fallon
  8. 1 2 Goldsmith, Annabel (2004). Annabel: An Unconventional Life: The Memoirs of Lady Annabel Goldsmith. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-82966-1.
  9. 1 2 Lundy, Darryl. "Person Page 5917:Sir James Goldsmith". The Peerage. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  10. 1 2 "The real Jemima Khan". Despardes. Archived from the original on 17 May 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2006.
  11. ↑ Nick Curtis and Olivia Cole (17 December 2010). "How Jemima Khan became Jem of the arrestocracy". London Evening Standard.
  12. ↑ "SOAS Alumni Newsletter" (PDF). School of Oriental and African Studies. Autumn 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  13. ↑ Roy, Amit (2 October 2011). "Imran is Pakistan and Pakistan is Imran". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India).
  14. ↑ "Imran and Jemima married in Paris". The Times. 17 May 1995.
  15. ↑ Rosser, Nigel (20 June 1995). "Jemima arrives 12 minutes late for wedding No2". London Evening Standard.
  16. ↑ Bruce, Rory (21 June 1995). "Blinis, Bolly and Brass bands for Jemima". London Evening Standard.
  17. 1 2 Khan, Jemima (28 May 1995). "Why I chose Islam". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  18. ↑ Khan, Jemima (10 August 2008). "My grandfather's secret". The Times (London). Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  19. ↑ Edwardes, Charlotte (12 November 2000). "Jemima Khan: I am not an anti-Semite". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  20. ↑ Yasmeen, Samina (8 May 2013). "'Imran Khan, Jewish agent': welcome to the wonderful world of Pakistani politics". Australia: The Conversation. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  21. 1 2 Mishra, Pankaj (19 August 2012). "Imran Khan Must Be Doing Something Right". The New York Times Sunday Magazine. p. MM32.
  22. 1 2 "Pakistani court exonerates Jemima Khan". BBC News. 5 April 2000. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  23. ↑ Hasnain, Ghulam (17 October 1999). "Coup paves way for Jemima's return". The Sunday Times.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Imran Khan and Jemima divorce". BBC. 22 June 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  25. ↑ MacKenzie, Craig (26 November 2011). "'I almost lost the will to live': Imran Khan reveals torment over break-up of his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  26. ↑ Khan, Jemima (7 September 2008). "Mad and bad – but the West will turn a blind eye". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  27. ↑ Khan, Jemima (2 April 2003). "I am angry and ashamed to be British". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  28. ↑ Khan, Jemima (18 February 2008). "The Politics of paranoia". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  29. ↑ Khan, Jemima (12 December 2010). "Why did I back Julian Assange?". The Observer (London). Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  30. ↑ Khan, Jemima (17 February 2008). "An extraordinary encounter with Musharraf". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  31. ↑ "Telegraph: Jemima Khan". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 18 June 2008.
  32. ↑ "Jemima proves it's not simply about Vanity". London Evening Standard (London). 20 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  33. ↑ Khan, Jemima (10 April 2012). "Jemima Khan appointed Associate Editor of The Independent and i". The Independent (London). Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  34. ↑ McVeigh, Tracy (10 April 2011). "Jemima Khan: Just don't take her at face value". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  35. ↑ Cohen, Nick (10 April 2011). "Is nepotism ever acceptable?". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  36. ↑ Godwin, Richard (7 April 2011). "Jemima Khan – the freedom fighter". London Evening Standard (London). Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  37. ↑ Greenslade, Roy (17 October 2011). "Jemima Khan quits Independent for New Statesman". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  38. ↑ Clark, Emma (7 February 2013). "Jemima Khan: 'My journey with Julian Assange has taken me from 'admiration to demoralisation'". The Independent (United Kingdom).
  39. ↑ Pecikonis, Linsey (7 November 2013). "INTERVIEW: BBC's Richard Bacon chats with Jemima Khan about Unmanned: America's Drone Wars". War Costs. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  40. ↑ Menkes, Suzy (1 September 1998). "Jemima Khan: Shining Through". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  41. 1 2 Laville, Sandra (6 December 2001). "Jemima Khan closes fashion label". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 8 August 2007.
  42. ↑ Mann, Rebecca (13 June 2008). "Parfums Azzaro creates a new way to wear Couture". Moodie International Ltd. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  43. ↑ Mann, Rebecca (13 June 2008). "Fashion scoop: Temporary star". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  44. ↑ Robson, Julia (23 February 2001). "The best dressed". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  45. ↑ "The 68th Annual International Best-Dressed List". Vanity Fair. 1 September 2007. p. 290. ISSN 0733-8899.
  46. ↑ "The International Hall of Fame: Women". Vanity Fair. 2 July 2011.
  47. ↑ Khan, Jemima (8 April 2001). "The camp is a vast dump". The Sunday Telegraph.
  48. ↑ Hafeez, Assad (3 April 2004). "Integrating health care for mothers and children in refugee camps and at district level". NIH. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  49. ↑ "Protect breastfeeding in the UK". UNICEF UK. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  50. ↑ Alleyne, Richard (21 June 2001). "Jemima Khan joins Unicef campaign for war orphans". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  51. ↑ "The horror of child trafficking". BBC. 30 July 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  52. ↑ "Jemima's child labour campaign". BBC. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  53. ↑ "Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Daily Times. Pakistan. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  54. ↑ "The Feast of Albion – committee". Quintessentially Events. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  55. ↑ "Karaoke with the stars in aid of HOPING" (PDF). HOPING Foundation'. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  56. ↑ Lewis, Jason (11 November 2007). "Jemima Khan joins Pakistan protest – and mum Lady Annabel lends a hand". The Mail on Sunday (London). Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  57. ↑ Newling, Dan (23 April 2010). "Muslim extremists target Jemima Khan with death threats". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  58. ↑ Burns, John (18 August 2011). "In Embassy Drama, Eyes of Police (and Public) Focus on Assange". The New York Times.
  59. ↑ Khan, Jemima (7 February 2013). "Jemima Khan on Julian Assange: how the Wikileaks founder alienated his allies". The New Statesman.
  60. ↑ Allen, Emily (4 September 2012). "Julian Assange's celebrity backers set to lose $540,000 bail money as he remains holed up in Ecuador Embassy". Daily Mail (London). Meanwhile, another handful of celebrities including socialite Jemima Khan, journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach, publisher Felix Dennis have already lost the £200,000 they stumped up between them to help free him before he was bailed.
  61. ↑ Slack, Chris (28 October 2011). "Imran Khan reunited with Jemima as politician launches stinging rebuke of US drone attacks on Pakistan". Daily Mail (London).
  62. ↑ Szalai, Georg (18 March 2014). "Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfonso Cuaron, Maggie Smith Back U.K. Press Regulation". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  63. ↑ Burrell, Ian (18 March 2014). "Campaign group Hacked Off urge newspaper industry to back the Royal Charter on press freedom – Press – Media". The Independent (London). Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  64. ↑ http://hackinginquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/4282-HackedOff-Guardian-ad-286x440-d3.png
  65. ↑ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  66. ↑ Gerard, Jasper (15 May 2005). "Interview: Jasper Gerard meets Jemima Khan". The Times (London). Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  67. ↑ "BA jet plunges in cockpit struggle". BBC. 29 December 2000. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  68. ↑ Helliker, Adam (3 June 2001). "Lady Annabel's Gift". The Sunday Telegraph.
  69. ↑ Harris, Paul (11 March 2001). "Passengers in Kenya terror flight threaten to sue BA". The Guardian (London).
  70. ↑ Manley, Debbie (14 November 2004). "VIP: Jemima Khan". The People. p. 12.
  71. ↑ Jones, Liz (31 October 2005). "I do want Jemima to be happy for her sake and for my children's". London Evening Standard. p. 18.
  72. ↑ MacSweeney, Eve (1 February 2007). "Reluctant Romeo". Vogue. pp. 232–37. ISSN 0042-8000.
  73. ↑ Bruce, Rory Knight (18 May 1995). "Jemima, Imran and a Londonderry legacy". London Evening Standard. pp. 16–17.
  74. ↑ "Imran and Jemima Khan Welcomed Princess Diana in Pakistan". Huffington Post. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  75. ↑ "Britain's Young Millionaires". London Evening Standard. 25 February 2002.
  76. ↑ Radcliffe, Rebecca (25 November 2005). "Jemima's Jumble sale". London Evening Standard (London). Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  77. ↑ Naughton, Philippe; Costello, Miles (12 November 2005). "Life lessons". The Times (London). p. 24. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  78. ↑ "Celebrities reveal their London". BBC. 19 April 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  79. 1 2 "Hugh Grant splits with girlfriend Jemima Khan". Reuters. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  80. ↑ Faulkner, Katherine (28 October 2010). "Millionaire husband squanders golden egg". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  81. ↑ "Russell Brand IS dating Jemima Khan". Telegraph.co.uk. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  82. ↑ "Russell Brand 'ready to propose' to Jemima Khan: 'I really love her' - Metro News". Metro. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  83. ↑ "It's over: Russell Brand and Jemima Khan split", The Independent (Eire), 21 September 2014
  84. ↑ Eizabeth Beynon "No Khan do: Jemima and Russell Brand ‘split after a year’", The Sunday Times, 21 September 2014
  85. ↑ "SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: No Khan do - why Jemima is changing her name". Mail Online. Retrieved 20 January 2015.

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