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 on the appalling domestic abuse she suffered.
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 her mistreatment.
‘My next book of my art will cover my life as an abused woman,’ she tells me at the Mall Galleries, near Buckingham Palace. ‘I had a husband who used to lock me out of the house.
‘He grabbed my daughter from me – he had enough money to run with her to Switzerland and I’d never find him again. I couldn’t leave my daughter.’
Her book, Domesticity In Turmoil, otherwise 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 abuse she suffered at the hands of her late husband Leo Rosengarten – a Holocaust survivor from Latvia who worked as a wood veneer merchant.
He died in 2000, aged 71. Naomi, 86, says: ‘People think domestic abuse is a lower-class problem. It’s not, it is middle-class.
Sir Keir and Victoria Starmer entering 10 Downing Street after Labour’s General Election win in July
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 her mistreatment
‘I’ve got [the charity] Refuge behind the book, which has 170 iPad drawings, showing me being knocked out, showing what one should have seen at the very beginning.’
She says of Leo: ‘Eventually, the police came and took him away. He went mad. It affects the children terribly. When going through an abusive marriage, one should divorce. When I was stuck, lawyers told me I couldn’t leave – I’d have lost everything. This was the 1960s.’
Lady Starmer’s father Bernard Alexander, Naomi’s uncle, greeted Sir Keir at the steps of No 10 following Labour’s landslide general election victory.
Timely judgement for Robert Rinder
A timely judgment from barrister turned TV personality Robert Rinder.
‘New Year’s resolutions are generally b******s,’ declares the Judge Rinder star.
Rob Rinder pictured with Quality Street on their Christmas ‘paper tubs trial’ campaign
‘It’s probably the worst month to make a resolution. It’s dark and cold. What a horrible time to be thinking about doing anything. We need to re-think the whole concept.’
Eye-opening conversation starters for Lucy Worsley
Party season appears to have included some eye-opening conversations for Lucy Worsley, the historian who likes to dress up for her television programmes.
Historian Lucy Worsley has experienced some eye-opening conversation starters at recent events
She reports: ‘Went to a party this evening and a man said, ‘Hello, I think I once put you in a scold’s bridle.
‘Do you remember?’ Of course! It was my old 17th century tutor, and contributor to a series about 17th century women.
‘He also threw me into a pond to see if I’d float.’
Tall order for Toby
He’s married to willowy blonde radio producer Pippa Taylor. But Toby Tarrant, son of Chris Tarrant, sometimes thinks back to 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 attending Global’s Make Some Noise Charity Gala at the Londoner Hotel in central London
‘My mate Dan said, ‘Toby, those women are having a look at you.’ I said, ‘They are, aren’t they?’
Fortifying himself on another beer, Toby, who is 6ft 5in, strode over.
‘I said, ‘Oh, hello, my mate Dan and I thought you were looking over…’
One of the trio confirmed that they were. ‘Our friend has just gone to the toilet,’ she explained, ‘and you’re really tall, so we decided we’d meet back at you’.
Age is just a number to Kitty
He could be a doting father gazing at his daughter as she blows out her birthday candles.
In fact, this is Michael Lewis, husband of Lady Kitty Spencer who turned 34 at the weekend. He will be 66 next month.
Lady Kitty Spencer celebrates her birthday with her husband (right) and friends
The couple were snapped 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 tycoon Lewis, who has an estimated £80million fortune, in 2021.
In her father’s absence, her half-brother Samuel Aitken walked her down the aisle. The couple also have a daughter, Athena.
To eat or not to eat meat: Cyndi Lauper’s question
Supper sounds traumatic in the home of Cyndi Lauper, the US pop star known for hits including Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
‘I don’t eat meat,’ says the singer, 71. ‘But when I get mad, I think, ‘I’m going to have a hamburger.’
Singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper pictured 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 for the fish. And people say plants have feelings, so I’m like, ‘So now what am I going to eat?’
Ryan’s comics rage
Katherine Ryan is not amused by this year’s list of comedians who’ve made the most money from their stand-up tours.
The top ten, among them Trevor Noah and Adam Sandler, are all men. The comedienne blames women who fail to appreciate female comics.
‘Women don’t stand a chance when a huge part of the population still refuses to believe that women are funny,’ she complains.
Katherine Ryan is not amused by this year’s list of comedians who’ve made the most money from their stand-up tours, writes Richard Eden
‘Women won’t be on that list unless there’s a shift in the world.’
The Canadian-born star of Channel 4 panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats says: ‘Women are the ones who are, like, ‘I don’t think women are funny’. Really? You don’t know any funny women in your life? Are you not funny?’
Beatrice gives a masterclass in co-parenting with Dara
A heavily pregnant Princess Beatrice invited her stepson Christopher to spend Christmas at Sandringham with his father Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Christopher’s mother Dara Huang has, meanwhile, been reminiscing about a warmer holiday.
The American architect and television presenter, 41, shared this cheeky snap of herself online, posing with her back to the camera, aboard a yacht in Ibiza.
Princess Beatrice, Counsellor of State 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’s enjoyed co-parenting Christopher
The American architect and television presenter, 41, shared this cheeky snap of herself online, posing with her back to the camera, aboard a yacht in Ibiza
Huang, who was granted British citizenship in 2022, said earlier this year that she’s enjoyed co-parenting Christopher, known as Wolfie, eight, alongside Beatrice and Edo.
‘Wolfie has two sets of parents to help him on both sides, and I just think, ‘The more, the merrier’,’ she said.