Tag: celebrity

Styled by Stoddart

‘Photographer to the Stars’ John Stoddart puts his Whitstable bachelor pad up for sale; it truly represents his bon vivant lifestyle

Suave Liverpool born ‘sniper-turned-snapper’ John Stoddart is selling his lavishly decorated apartment in the heart of the “oyster capital of Britain,” Whitstable.

John Stoddart at home

Extending to 919 square foot and situated on this delightfully eccentric seaside town’s High Street, the two-storey maisonette is presently arranged to provide a sitting room, dining kitchen, utility room, bedroom, bathroom and archive-studio room (that could easily revert to a second bedroom).

Stoddart was born in Liverpool and joined the Grenadier Guards at fifteen. He has worked with everyone from Tony Blair to Catherine Zeta-Jones and even captured Daniel Craig on the day before it was announced he’d be the next James Bond.

Agents Miles and Barr seek £235,000 ($306,000, €262,000 or درهم1.1million) for the apartment and with trains from Whitstable to London Victoria taking just 1 hour 30 minutes, this could be just perfect as a holiday bolthole.

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September 1, 2018
Robin Leach (1941 – 2018)

“With champagne wishes and caviar dreams” was the famous signoff of London born Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach. Harrow High School educated, this one-time Daily Mail reporter moved to the US in 1963 with $145 in his pocket and after briefly becoming a shoe salesman founded a music publication named Go Magazine.

After selling up “at considerable profit,” Leach worked for The National Star and CNN before coming up with Lifestyles in 1984. He attributed the show’s popularity to Jimmy Carter exiting the White House and boasted: “[It was] because the Reagans brought in an aura of wealth. Jimmy Carter was too ordinary. So, when Reagan came in, it was time for a show about wealth and success… Hear this: In the course of an hour, I deliver twice as much audio information and visual images as any other show on television. I’m fast and loud on purpose. I cram 10 pounds of caviar into an eight-pound pack.”

“Sensational, not scandalous” in his approach, twice married, father of three Leach’s subjects numbered everyone from Celine Dion to Madonna and Adnan Khashoggi and Donald Trump. As a result this celebrant of wealth and capitalism became a millionaire and pretty famous himself and in 2007, in the Fergie song Glamorous featuring Ludacris, the latter rapped: “Lifestyles so rich and famous, Robin Leach’ll get jealous.” With his passing, most certainly, this much parodied “life of the party” has most definitely moved to the skies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrZtqe_zrOw

August 26, 2018
Moron of the Moment – Ferne McCann

Ferne McCann shamelessly attempts to flog £12.95 lip plumping primer on Instagram just as the father of her child is jailed for an acid attack in London

Just as her former boyfriend and father of her child, Arthur Collins, was deservedly jailed for 20 years with an extended licence of 5 years for throwing acid over 22 victims in a nightclub, Ferne McCann inappropriately took to Instagram yesterday to promote a £12.95 lip plumping primer for a company named Project Lip.

McCann – a dimwit whose “glittering career” has included stints on The Only Way Is Essex and This Morning – despite being immediately criticised for her insensitivity then also shared a picture in which she posed with the equally pointless famous-for-nothing James Argent. In doing so, she piled yet more misery on those injured and scarred for life by Collins but no doubt she thought: “Hey ho, I may as well make a little dosh out of all this media attention.”

“Despicable liar” Collins – a sorry excuse for a man identified as being of “low IQ” at his sentencing – will now rightly rot for at least ten years. His actions were sick beyond belief and though Miss McCann cannot be blamed for what this scumbag thug did on 17^th April 2017 at the Mangle E8 club in Dalston, London, she should realise that distastefully promoting cheap beauty products just as Collins’ was sentenced is nothing but tremendously tasteless and utterly wrong.

#BoycottProjectLip #ShameOnFerneMcCann

Pictured above – Ferne McCann with “her love” Arthur Collins in Dubai in an identical ‘Killer Candy’ T-shirt to the one he wore whilst throwing acid over the 22 people whose life he forever altered.

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Ferne McCann shared this post on Instagram on the very day the father of her child Arthur Collins was sentenced for an acid attack; we are sure his 22 victims would love to buy a £12.95 lip plumping primer

She also posed for an image with ‘The Only Way Is Essex’s’ James Argent

Ferne McCann with the now jailed Arthur Collins in happier times

Ferne McCann posted a picture of her child with Arthur Collins just five days ago; that child is named ‘Sunday’ and chillingly, as some have observed, the night of the week that Collins arrived at the Mangle E8 club to conduct his attack was a Sunday (the actual incident occurred at 1am on Bank Holiday Monday)

December 20, 2017
Warped Walker vs. Magnificent Markle

Kushner-Trump mouthpiece Andre Walker’s attack on Meghan Markle was an utter disgrace; it is time that this warped weirdo was called out for what he truly is

Unsurprisingly yesterday, the self-declared “fat Northern bruiser” turned Jared Kushner’s London based mouthpiece Andre Walker appeared on Sky News to defend Donald Trump’s “right” to retweet far right fake news shared by Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, slug-like Walker – an extremely sad excuse of a man who’ll forever be linked to his associations with the scandal linked to the ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke, the suicide of a Conservative activist named Elliott Johnson and his previous position at Steve Bannon’s bigoted Breitbart – decided to brand Prince Harry’s fiancée “a black woman in Buckingham Palace… [who] will have to bite her lip rather than supporting her old acting friends in the causes they love” in an article for the Kushner owned New York Observer.

Going further and referencing those describing Meghan Markle as “just another Hollywood liberal who will speak out on a few issues she cares about while ignoring the needs of the country,” Walker argued “she will face the merciless wrath of the British public” over having once tweeted “lamenting the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister” and declaring her “opposition to Brexit.”

Bizarrely referencing how “no one wants another Royal [sic] divorce” and stating: “After all, she did not make her first marriage work,” truly negative Walker plainly illustrated his belief that this is a union that will not last. He bizarrely also concluded: “In their first television interview [Prince Harry and Miss Markle]… It felt like the two of them had been sent to remind the world that the British Royals [sic] like all black people, especially the ones they rule!” He is wrong and the world should celebrate the fact that Prince Harry is to marry Meghan Markle, a lady of conviction and stature.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

Meghan Markle shared an image of a poster that read: “If EU leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me” after the Brexit referendum in Britain in July 2016

November 30, 2017
The Stars of Beel

Neglected Georgian mansion that has been home to Sir Dirk Bogarde, Basil Dearden, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Matt Aitken and Robert Kilroy-Silk for sale for 39% less than it sold for in 2014

A dilapidated Grade II* listed country house whose extensive roster of owners numbers aristocrats, rock and film stars and politicians is on sale for £3.95 million or 39% less from the £6.5 million sum it sold for in 2014.

Built for the Duke of Buckingham in the 1600s and extending to 10,743 square foot, Beel House in Little Chalfont, near Amersham in Buckinghamshire stands in 13.5 acres of land. It comprises of a 7 reception room, 8 bedroom, 6 bathroom main house and also comes with an indoor swimming pool complex, a tennis court and garaging for 5 cars.

Home to The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish in the 1830s and Colonel Abram ‘Arthur’ Lyle of the Tate & Lyle dynasty from 1909 to 1920, Beel House was bought by the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde in a “dilapidated state” in 1954. Of discovering it, Bogarde, who had been renting a cottage in the close vicinity on the Bendrose Estate, stated:

“[The actress Kay Kendall and I] walked across muddy fields from my rented home to look at Beel House. It was a horror. Bleak and empty, few of its twenty-six rooms caught the sun, and the garden surrounding it was a tangle of overgrown rosebeds. Inside it seemed a labyrinth of corridors and stone passages. It was painted throughout in dejected yellow and brown and each room had a rusty gas fire in it.”

Bogarde made significant changes to the building and pulled down a wing of 11 rooms. In their place, he built a swimming pool and a 30-foot long conservatory in the grounds – which Kay Kendall later described as looking like “an out patients’ department” – and it seems he spent several happy years there. He moved to another property nearby named Drummer’s Yard in 1960 and sold Beel House to Basil Dearden, the director of The Assassination Bureau, Khartoum and The Man Who Haunted Himself.

An aerial photo of Beel House, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9QP, United Kingdom

Images of the exterior of Beel House in the 1950s

Actor Anthony Forwood, Sir Dirk Bogarde’s eventual “life partner,” at Beel House with his dogs Sinuhe and Bogie; Sir Dirk Bogarde in his study at the house

Sir Dirk Bogarde outside Beel House with one of many Rolls-Royces he owned and inside on the house’s main staircase

Film director Basil Dearden, owner of Beel House between 1960 and 1966, worked with Sir Dirk Bogarde on the controversial film ‘Victim’ in 1961; it was the first English language film to use the word “homosexual” and of it one Italian critic remarked: “At last the British have stopped being hypocrites”

Dearden sold up in 1966 and the next famous owners were Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. It was whilst here that Mr Osbourne “decided to murder his wife” and of the ensuing incident on 3^rd September 1989, the Amersham Museum’s website reports:

“Ozzy Osbourne put the house up for sale after he had been arrested for the attempted murder of his wife whilst living at Beel House. After taking a cocktail of drugs and drinking heavily during a family meal at the Chinese restaurant at Nightingales Corner he attacked his wife and was subsequently arrested. He had no memory of the attack but the conditions of his bail were that he entered a rehab centre, did not contact his wife and did not return to Beel House.”

Marketed for £1.75 million in 1991, unsurprisingly Sharon Osbourne, herself, did not have much positive to say about her time at Beel House either. In her 2006 autobiography, Extreme, she remarked:

“I decided I wanted to go back to England. By this time we had already sold Beel House. I had enough bad memories not to be too sorry to see it go. Also it had reached what the builder called the domino point: mending one thing only triggered something else that needed to be done.”

Ozzy Osbourne, photographed by Conrad Rickenbacker, sitting on his four poster bed at Beel House in the 1980s

Images of Beel House during the ownership of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (photographs by Conrad Rickenbacker)

Robert Kilroy-Silk at Beel House prior to his appearance on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ in November 2008

The house as furnished by Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife Jan Beech, circa 2014

Matt Aitken, the composer of chart toppers for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama, supposedly lived at Beel House for a period subsequently and in the 1990s, the property was sold to the “exotically handsome man, with a very un-English facial glow and ice blue eyes” Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife, Jan Beech.

Controversial television personality Mr Kilroy-Silk, an MP from 1974 to 1986 and an MEP from 2004 to 2009, brought with him a herd of fallow deer as well as Vietnamese pheasants and bantams to Beel House. He lived between there and his home in Spain and then sold up for the staggering sum of £6.5 million in 2014 to an “international buyer” who, according to Country Life’s Penny Churchill, immediately found “it ‘surplus to requirements’ and put it straight back on the market” through Savills.

Of the estate, which by then had been for sale for three years, in October 2017, then selling agent Hugh Maconochie told the Bucks Free Press:

“In many respects Beel House is the archetypal country residence: a Grade II* listed home in the heart of the Chilterns, beautiful grounds and easy access to London by both rail and road. Yet, while it was completely refurbished in the 1980s – new garaging, games block and swimming pool complex included – its current state necessitates a complete restoration project.”

“For those seeking a country residence to move straight into, Beel House is not the home for them. Instead it would appeal to a buyer looking to restore and revive a Georgian gem. A reduction in price over the years reflects the refurbishment that’s required.”

Empty and plainly somewhat neglected, Edward Welton of Knight Frank’s Baker Street office is now marketing the property. His firm describes Beel House as: “An exciting opportunity for a full restoration project, giving someone the chance to create their own style on a private estate, so close to London.”

Beel House – The Names and Numbers

November 2017 – Further reduced to just £3.95 million ($5.29 million, €4.47 million or درهم19.44 million) through Knight Frank.

January 2017 – Reduced to £4.95 million ($6.63 million, €5.61 million or درهم24.37 million) through Savills.

November 2015 – For sale again for £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) through Savills.

2014 – Sold to “an international buyer” by Robert Kilroy-Silk for “close to” the £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) asking price.

June 1991 – For sale for £1.75 million (the equivalent of £3.45 million, $4.62 million, €3.91 million or درهم16.98 million today).

October 1989 – Placed for sale by media personalities Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.

1966 – Placed on the market by Basil Dearden for £66,000 (the equivalent of £1.1 million, $1.5 million, €1.2 million or درهم5.4 million today).

Circa 1960 – Sold to film director Basil Dearden (1911 – 1971).

January 1954 – Sold to actor Sir Dirk Bogarde (1921 – 1999) for £4,000 (the equivalent of £101,000, $135,000, €114,000 or درهم497,000 today).

1836 to 1954 – Part of the estate of the Lowndes family, largescale landowners in the Chesham, Buckinghamshire area. During this time tenants included The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish and from 1909 to 1920 by Colonel Abram Lyle (of the Tate & Lyle dynasty).

1730 – Valued at £500 (the equivalent of £99,000, $133,000, €112,000 or درهم487,000 today) by Sun Insurance whilst home to Thomas White of Middle Temple.

1672 to 1682 – Home to Mary Pennington, the mother-in-law of the Quaker founder of the State of Pennsylvania, William Penn.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

November 29, 2017
Double Cher

Holmby Hills estate owned variously by Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis for sale for double what it sold for in 2016

A 12,201 square foot mansion on 10.1 acres in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles is on sale for £136 million or double the sum it sold for just a year ago.

Featuring 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, ‘The Owlwood Estate’ or more simply 141 South Carolwood Drive is described as “easily one of the city’s most iconic and historically significant properties.” Built in 1937 to the designs of Robert D. Farquhar in a “classic European Italian Renaissance” style, the estate was owned by Tony Curtis and Sonny Bono and Cher in the 1960s and has also been home to Joe Schenck, the first president of United Artists and a chairman of 20^th Century Fox.

Now offered with designs for redevelopment by Bob Shapiro, the head of Sturmer Pippin Investments and CEO of Woodbridge Luxury Homes, the property offered also includes a sunken tennis court, a swimming pool and two guest houses.

Adam Rosenfeld of Mercer Vine is the realtor handling the sale.

The Owlwood Estate – The Numbers

July 2017 – Placed on the market for £136 million ($180 million, €153 million or درهم661 million).

September 2016 – Sold for £68 million ($90 million, €76 million or درهم331 million) to developer Bob Shapiro.

July 2012 – Placed on the market for £114 million ($150 million, €127 million or درهم551 million) by Dawn Arnall, “the widow of subprime mortgage profiteer Roland Arnall.”

2002 – Sold for £25 million ($33 million, €28 million or درهم121 million).

1999 – Listed for sale for £44 million ($58 million, €49 million or دره213 million) by Ghazi Aita complete with an adjacent property.

1978 – Sold to a “shadowy businessman” named Ghazi Aita for £3.2 million ($4.2 million, €3.6 million or درهم15 million).

1970 – Sold to Sonny and Cher for £568,000 ($750,000, €636,000 or درهم2.8 million).

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

November 18, 2017
The Accolades of Abuse

Top-drawer politicians again sweep serious incidents of historic abuse under the carpet; focusing on film star abusers instead is not the solution

Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Theresa May’s thirty-six apparently ropey sex pest MPs are undoubtedly – if all or indeed any of the allegations against them are proven true – repugnant specimens but what about the existing and conveniently forgotten victims of historic abuse by equally powerful individuals including politicians, religious figures and police officers?

Just because a few well-known personalities – and admittedly long after the crimes against them, in some cases, have past the statute of limitation – have leapt up now, the media and politicians have joined a bandwagon of #MeToo. In the much older case, however, of the VIP abuse at the Elm Guest House in Richmond – a place of which only one decent MP, Zac Goldsmith, has bothered to speak out – all remains sadly silent and all allegations remain headed for being swept under the carpet.

For Theresa May, it suits to allow Christian abusers with a penchant for hanging out with gangsters to remain free as it does to continue to claim that Sir Edward Heath was a decent man also. We remain in a world where Sir Cyril Smith – a vile paedo (but one like Sir Edward never tried in any court of law) is described as a paedophile without hesitation – whilst other plainly apparent living monsters walk the streets scot-free. The late Lord Janner, a nasty bastard if ever there were one, is condemned yet nobody dare talk of a living MP with a predilection for a bit of groping (male or female, it does not matter) in his office.

Shame on Britain and yet again shame on Theresa May. Our useless Prime Minister has done nothing to solve this situation and frankly the hectoring vicar’s daughter didn’t exactly set a great example by accepting the hand of her “pussy grabbing” mate Donald Trump.

A 2014 ‘Daily Mail’ article about what allegedly went on at the Elm Guest House

The late Sir Cyril Smith (pictured with Jeremy Thorpe) is widely cited as one of British politics’ worst abusers

Paedo politician Lord Boothby had a curious relationship with the gangster Ronnie Kray; the pair supposedly got up to all sorts of things with innocent youngsters

Jonathan King is to be tried concerning allegations of historic abuse against young boys in January; allegations against the late Sir Edward Heath remain unproven in spite of a costly investigation

Serial abuser Jimmy Savile liked to hang out with everyone from Cardinal Keith O’Brien (pictured) to Prince Charles and Margaret Thatcher; widespread knowledge of the abuse he committed was swept under the carpet during his lifetime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMsyiNXWsw

October 31, 2017
Zach Tinker – What’s on your mantelpiece?

A 20-question interview with American actor and star of NBC’s ‘Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders’ Zach Tinker

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

My gut and my heart.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

“Kill ‘em with kindness.”

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2017?

To be frank, I had no idea who Kerry Katona is so I looked her up. I also searched “Kerry Katona 2007,” but couldn’t find anything besides some stuff about her being on drugs and held up at knifepoint: I feel like I’m getting off track here.

I would say bigotry is unacceptable in 2017. It’s a distraction. There is so much going on right now that could end really badly and that’s where our focus should be, not on looking for someone else to blame because of their colour or gender or religion.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Only at certain times, but I miss being a little kid: Ignorance is bliss.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

More wealth. I’m kidding: Probably the ability to fly.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

I am probably not the one to ask: I’m 23 and just starting to deal with the state of my own economy. But it seems logical that the world is a better place if more people can participate, when we all feel like we have a stake in the outcome.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“The proof is in the pudding” – I’ve never understood what the hell that means. On a more positive and sort of related note,my favourite word is “goop.”

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I think: “Charity begins at need” – That seems more relevant, especially with the horrible string of natural disasters that have occurred around the world recently.

From elementary school through college, charity and volunteering was built in to the education curriculum, so that made it easy and I was very involved in with Camp Harmony. It is a well-run programme to support under privileged children from inner cities, the homeless and troubled families. They host summer camps, winter camps, holiday events, do food drives, back to school drives, support mentorships… I volunteered there for five or six years and it’s one of the most incredible and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Sadly, I haven’t been very active in that community for the past few years because of my schedule, but to anyone living in Los Angeles, I couldn’t recommend the programme enough.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

If the question is: “What is my view on the appropriate use of cell phones that explode?” I would probably say, never. They are crazy dangerous, plus I heard their network coverage is terrible.

When it comes to regular old mobile phones, I think in general, just don’t be a dick. I know that sounds flip, but most of us know when phone use is not okay: Don’t text and drive; don’t talk on the phone in a movie theatre and don’t FaceTime at a funeral.

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Michael Jordan, Lincoln, Marlon Brando, Will Smith, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Eminem, MLK, Louis CK, Dave Chappelle and my mother’s father. He passed away when my mom was seven and I’d like to meet him and say thank you.

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

A bucket of Ben & Jerry’s half-baked half-twisted ice cream, my grandma’s Italian chicken cutlets, a jar of Skippy Peanut Butter, a box of Captain Crunch Berries with 2% milk, a PB&J sandwich on whole wheat, and a slice of Susie Cakes’ red velvet cake for dessert. Oh, and a big bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade to wash it down. I would eat it in prison, presumably, since I’m on death row.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

I don’t drink regularly, but that’s mostly about fitness. I’m not judging, but first thing after you wake up is probably not the best idea. Otherwise, sometimes a drink is just what the doctor ordered; I get it.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Tea, but I’ll need two packs of Stevia in there first.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

Small ones: I like when gatherings are intimate, where I can have conversations with people and get to know them.

Who is the most positive person you know?

Probably my step-dad, Ken Karman.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

The TV show My Strange Addiction. That show is insane. All those kinds of shows: Intervention, Cops, etc. They’re trash TV, I know, but God are they entertaining to watch.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

Hmmm… A piece of chocolate candy, maybe: Sweet with a slightly hard exterior and a soft and gooey inside.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

I’d like to say a Ferrari or Lambo, but I’m probably more like a 2005 Mazda Miata or something.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I almost bit my own tongue off as a child and had to have it sewn back on while conscious and awake.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

There is no actual mantelpiece in my tiny studio apartment, but I do have out on display an award my grandfather received from the NBC television network, a book about Marlon Brando, the graphic novel, Watchmen and a bottle of acne medication (left that out, unintentionally).

Actor Zach Tinker was born in New York in 1994 into a family of directors, writers and producers. He is the first of his family to work in front of the camera and currently appears in the NBC series ‘Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders’ as Craig Cignarelli, a classmate of Erik Menéndez .

Follow Zach Tinker on Twitter at @ZachTinker and on Instagram at @zach_atticus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVcw6H2MA8E

October 15, 2017
Public vs. Private

Matthew Steeples suggests respected actor George Clooney and publicity desperado Karen Danczuk provide contrasting examples about the ethics of paparazzi intrusion and media manipulation

Paparazzi intrusion and media manipulation are interlinked hot potatoes that look unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Two very different examples emerged in recent days of very different behavior by so-called ‘personalities’ – yet each gives indication that something is not quite right with the situation as it stands.

Whilst ‘ordinary individuals’ – and such should include, for example, successful business people who do not choose to put themselves on any kind of public pedestal – unquestionably deserve privacy from press intrusion unless they do something criminal or opt to share details of something considered newsworthy, the issue of where is the line of public and private was importantly raised by George Clooney late last week. The actor promised to “prosecute to the full extent of the law” a magazine named Voici after they scaled the fence of his Lake Como home to take unauthorised pictures of his young twin babies, Ella and Alexander, and he is right to do so.

Whilst undoubtedly a public figure himself (and one whose fortune stems from such), Mr Clooney has a point. His offspring, through no fault of their own, have only become part of a media circus because of their parentage and the dangers that could result from their images being featured in the press are great. Stronger restrictions against unauthorised photography are indeed required internationally – especially in the domain of minors – and California, for example, was right to issue laws in 2013 that protected children from paparazzi cameras.

Elsewhere and though such publications as the Mail Online may thrive due to their enthusiasm for incognito shots, on Sunday that paper illustrated another type of shoddy journalism. In publishing a ‘story’ – if it could even be called such – about the tawdry ex-wife of the disgraced Labour MP Simon Danczuk, 34-year old Karen Danczuk, cavorting on a Spanish beach with her 26-year old “Spanish toyboy lover” as he proposed to her, that paper opted to mislead its readers.

Featuring images taken by an agency named Flynet Pictures, it is plain that Ms Danczuk – listed as a “current client” by Louise Clifford, the daughter of the jailed nonce and convicted sex offender Max Clifford, on the website of her Borne Media PR agency – staged the images contained in that article and that the Mail Online’s Stephanie Linning was, at the very least, complicit of playing along with what is nothing other than a moment of media manipulation. The public, however, did not fall for this and of the 320 comments on the article most were in the negative. One, which received 1,184 likes, remarked: “So it was a big surprise for her then with a camera on standby? Fixed photo opportunities!”

Shame on the Mail Online for falling for the desperado Karen Danczuk and her representatives and shame on Voici also for invading the Clooney children’s privacy. Such activities must cease and the sooner, the better.

Update: 8:30am, Monday 31^st July 2017 – Karen Danczuk has now blocked @SteepleTimes on Twitter. Something about ‘heat’ and ‘kitchens’ comes to mind.

Paedophile Max Clifford pictured with his daughter Louise Clifford prior to being jailed for 8 years in 2014 for abusing victims as young as 14 years old; Louise Clifford is now the PR of amongst others such greats as Karen Danczuk, Chloe Sims and Lauren Goodger and shockingly purchased her father’s “goodwill” in November 2015

July 31, 2017
Canvassing a Con

After a Chelsea chef who came out of nowhere named Michael Riemenschneider is revealed to be a “conman” in the ‘Mail on Sunday’, readers tell of his past form

As can only be expected of a paper that loves a bit of sensationalism this week’s Mail on Sunday’s ‘YOU’ got rather carried away in an interview with a “wealthy widow” named Flora Mascolo – a woman who claims to be a victim of, mind the magazine’s gushingly cringeworthy description, a “delicious romance soon turned sour” with a Michelin starred chef named Michael Riemenschneider.

Bizarrely, that Riemenschneider – a man whose first London restaurant, we noted in February 2014, was literally covered with images of his face and captions referencing his name – is lauded as a “handsome celebrity chef” in the feature by Margarette Driscoll is somewhat ambitious given several locals we contacted remember him as “podgy” and a “little bit greasy.” A well-known Chelsea restaurateur – where the Swiss born chef opened a replacement restaurant that few ever even got to hear of just months after opening and nigh on immediately closing his original Marylebone premises in summer 2014 – recalls an individual whose “ability to talk about himself and his achievements made me immediately question the truth of his claims.”

That Driscoll lauds this individual as “talented and dynamic” is perhaps fair given his “experimental cuisine” most definitely had many merits, but that she describes a man Mascolo herself calls a “coward of a man” and “somebody who was a lie, from the beginning” as “destined for similar success” to Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay is nothing but far fetched. Here was someone who opened in bizarre off-piste locations, insisted diners fitted into limited time spots and ridiculously thought he could limit customers to a set menu priced at £275 per head or a ‘cheaper’ one at £95 per head.

Riemenschneider, a man whose exploits are reported to have cost the widow of the co-founder of the Toni & Guy hairdressing empire some £2.27 million, is now supposedly bankrupt and living in Austria. Cars bought by him including a Mercedes-Benz GTS have reportedly been seized and of him Mascolo comments: “If you wrong me, you will remember my name. He didn’t know who he was messing with.”

A wealthy female reader of The Steeple Times contacted us to share her thoughts on the interview. She did not wish to be named but stated: “This strange, anything but handsome individual, pestered me on social media. He messaged me one day out of the blue in 2013 and he told me that we had friends in common. I am glad I did not fall for his attempts to lure me. Plainly, Mrs Mascolo did and I am sorry for her.”

She continued:

“This man wasn’t a ‘celebrity chef’ but, in fact, a Facebook stalker of ladies he thought had a bit of cash. In his messages to me, I quickly realised he was an individual who’d come out of nowhere and brought with him an ego the size of Harrods.”

“The journalist [Margarette Driscoll] gets rather carried away about his restaurant. It was in a sub-basement off Sloane Square and it didn’t even have a website. Nobody went there because nobody even knew about it. Where there’s money, there’s muck.”

Michael Riemenschneider will no doubt reemerge someday. He was certainly a good cook, but sadly he turned out to be an even better conman.

July 16, 2017