Victoria Starmer has kept a low profile since she and her husband, Sir Keir, entered 10 Downing Street in July.
Lady Starmer’s cousin, however, has now broken her silence about the horrific domestic abuse she suffered.
Naomi Alexander, an artist whose paintings hang on the walls of the Starmer home in Kentish Town, north London, has written an illustrated book about her abuse.
“My next book about my art will cover my life as a battered woman,” she tells me at the Mall Galleries, near Buckingham Palace. ‘I had a husband who used to leave me out of the house.
‘He took my daughter from me; He had enough money to flee with her to Switzerland and she would never find him again. I couldn’t leave my daughter.’
Her book, Domesticity In Turmoil, also known as A Chicken Full Of Jewels, will be published next year.
In it, Naomi, a member of the Royal Society of Oil Painters, details the abuse she suffered at the hands of her late husband Leo Rosengarten, a Holocaust survivor from Latvia who worked as a veneer merchant.
He died in 2000, at the age of 71. Naomi, 86, says: ‘People think domestic abuse is a lower class problem. It’s not, it’s middle class.
Sir Keir and Victoria Starmer enter 10 Downing Street after Labor’s victory in the July general election
Naomi Alexander, an artist whose paintings hang on the walls of the Starmers’ home in Kentish Town, north London, has written an illustrated book about the abuse she suffered.
“I’ve got (the charity) Refuge behind the book, which has 170 iPad drawings, showing me getting knocked out, which you should have seen from the beginning.”
She says of Leo: “In the end, the police came and took him away. He went crazy. It affects children terribly. When one goes through an abusive marriage, one should get divorced. When I got stuck, the lawyers told me I couldn’t leave: I would have lost everything. It was the 60s.
Lady Starmer’s father, Bernard Alexander, Naomi’s uncle, greeted Sir Keir on the steps of number 10 following Labour’s landslide victory in the general election.
Timely sentence for Robert Rinder
A timely judgment from lawyer-turned-TV personality Robert Rinder.
“New Year’s resolutions are usually shit,” declares the Judge Rinder star.
Rob Rinder pictured with Quality Street in their ‘paper container test’ Christmas campaign
‘It’s probably the worst month to make a decision. It’s dark and cold. What a horrible time to be thinking about doing anything. “We need to rethink the whole concept.”
Eye-opening conversation starters for Lucy Worsley
The holiday season appears to have included some revealing conversations for Lucy Worsley, the historian who likes to dress up for her TV shows.
Historian Lucy Worsley has had some revealing talking points at recent events.
She reports: “I went to a party this afternoon and a man said, ‘Hey, I think I gave you a scolding once.'”
‘Do you remember?’ Of course! He was my former 17th century tutor and contributor to a series on 17th century women.
“He also threw me into a pond to see if I would float.”
A difficult task for Toby
He is married to the slender, blonde radio producer Pippa Taylor. But Toby Tarrant, son of Chris Tarrant, sometimes reminisces about his carefree bachelor days, particularly one night in Birmingham.
“Three very, very beautiful women kept looking at me,” recalls Toby, 33, who presents a show on Radio X.
Toby Tarrant attends Global’s Make Some Noise charity gala at the Londoner Hotel in central London
‘My mate Dan said, ‘Toby, those women are looking at you.’ I said, ‘They are, aren’t they?’
Toby, who is 6ft 5in, fortified himself with another beer and walked over.
“I said, ‘Oh, hey, my friend Dan and I thought you were watching…’
One of the trio confirmed that this was the case. “Our friend just went to the bathroom,” he explained, “and you’re really tall, so we decided to see you again.”
Age is just a number for Kitty
He could be a loving father watching his daughter as she blows out her birthday candles.
In fact, it is Michael Lewis, husband of Lady Kitty Spencer, who turned 34 over the weekend. He will turn 66 next month.
Lady Kitty Spencer celebrates her birthday with her husband (right) and friends
The couple were photographed at a party in South Africa, where she grew up with her parents Earl Spencer, 60, and Victoria, 59.
Lady Kitty, a model and niece of Princess Diana, married fashion mogul Lewis, who has an estimated fortune of £80 million, in 2021.
In her father’s absence, her half-brother Samuel Aitken accompanied her to the altar. The couple also has a daughter, Athena.
To eat or not to eat meat: Cyndi Lauper’s question
Dinner sounds traumatic at the house of Cyndi Lauper, the American pop star known for hits like Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
“I don’t eat meat,” says the 71-year-old singer. “But when I get angry, I think, ‘I’m going to eat a hamburger.'”
Singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper photographed at the Montreux Rock Festival, Switzerland, May 1984
But then I look at my dogs and I can’t. I eat fish, but I feel bad about fish. And people say that plants have feelings, so I say, ‘Now what am I going to eat?’
Ryan’s comics are all the rage
Katherine Ryan isn’t amused by this year’s list of comedians who have made the most money from their stand-up tours.
The top ten, including Trevor Noah and Adam Sandler, are all men. The comedian blames women who don’t know how to appreciate female comics.
“Women don’t stand a chance when a large portion of the population still refuses to believe that women are funny,” he complains.
Katherine Ryan is not amused by this year’s list of comedians who have made the most money from their stand-up tours, writes Richard Eden.
“Women won’t be on that list unless there is a change in the world.”
The Canadian-born star of Channel 4’s panel show 8 of 10 Cats says: “Women are the ones who say, ‘I don’t think women are funny.'” Actually? Don’t know any funny women in your life? Aren’t you funny?
Beatrice teaches a co-parenting masterclass with Dara
Princess Beatrice, who was heavily pregnant, invited her stepson Christopher to spend Christmas at Sandringham with his father Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Meanwhile, Christopher’s mother, Dara Huang, has been reminiscing about a warmer holiday.
The American architect and TV presenter, 41, shared this daring photo online of herself, posing with her back to the camera, aboard a yacht in Ibiza.
Princess Beatrice, State Councilor and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi with Christopher Woolf attend the Christmas morning service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on December 25, 2024
Dara Huang, who was granted British citizenship in 2022, said earlier this year that she enjoyed co-parenting with Christopher.
The American architect and TV presenter, 41, shared this daring photo of herself online, posing with her back to the camera, aboard a yacht in Ibiza.
Huang, who will be granted British citizenship in 2022, said earlier this year that he enjoyed being a father to eight-year-old Christopher, known as Wolfie, along with Beatrice and Edo.
“Wolfie has two sets of parents helping him on both sides, and I think, ‘The more the merrier,'” she said.