RICHARD EDEN: Soraya Kashoggi's intense anguish at ban on visiting her grandson

RICHARD EDEN: Soraya Kashoggi's intense anguish at ban on visiting her grandson

There were jets – three of them – and yachts, one of them a prop in a Bond film and another which was destined to be owned by Donald Trump.There were also the houses, 14 in all, and the lovers – Formula 1 world champion James Hunt, Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty and Sir Sean Connery among them – and, of course, the man who made it all possible, her husband, Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi.But now, I can disclose, Soraya Khashoggi is afflicted by the most intense anguish she’s suffered since fending off the attentions of an abusive grandfather during her childhood in Leicester, where she was brought up in a council house by her mother, a single parent.Her torment, Soraya explains, is caused by her estrangement from the second of her nine children – Nabila, 64, her only daughter by Khashoggi, known as ‘Mr Fixit’ for the dexterity with which he brokered deals in oil, armaments and property.‘I want people to know that I haven’t seen my grandson for nine years,’ Soraya tells me. ‘Nabila has cut me off totally. She told one of her brothers: “Tell mother she’s dead to me.”‘So I can’t see my grandson,’ Soraya adds, referring to Nabila’s only child, Layth – Arabic for lion – by her second husband, American billionaire Jim Cox Chambers. ‘He was only eight when I last saw him. He’ll grow up thinking whatever Nabila’s told him. He doesn’t even know he has a living granny.’ Nabila, who was sent to £60,215-a-year Millfield School in Somerset after her parents fled Lebanon during the country’s civil war, declines to comment. Soraya Khashoggi is afflicted by the intense anguish of her estrangement from the second of her nine children Ms Khashoggi was brought up in a council house by her mother, a single parentShe gave birth to Layth at the age of 47 and had previously been married to the urbane Winchester and Oxford-educated Danny Daggenhurst. The couple had one son, Spartan, before going their separate ways after Nabila set her heart on a film career.Nearly 30 years ago, my Diary predecessor Nigel Dempster reported that Nabila had joined ‘the controversial Church of Scientology’ after moving to LA. Soraya believes that Nabila, who married Cox Chambers in 2004, remains a devout adherent. ‘Apparently Nabila and Jim are its biggest donors – even bigger than Tom Cruise,’ she tells me.Thandiwe sees daughter Ripley wed her fianceeThandiwe Newton has celebrated the wedding of her daughter to Siofra Dromgoole Ripley Parker and Siofra Dromgoole attend a special screening of Emilia Perez in October 2024Hollywood actress Thandiwe Newton’s daughter Ripley Parker is helping bring Harry Potter back to our screens – and has found a little magic of her own off screen.The screenwriter, 25, who is part of the team behind the forthcoming HBO series about the boy wizard, has quietly married her fiancee Siofra Dromgoole.She and fellow writer Siofra exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony at Brympton House, in Somerset, surrounded by close friends and family including Thandiwe, 53, and her ex-husband, film director Ol Parker, 57, who’s Ripley’s father. ‘It was a magical day, and they have such a beautiful marriage,’ a guest tells me.Having long declared his loathing for rock rivals Led Zeppelin, The Who’s Pete Townshend reveals he’s offered an olive branch to the band’s guitarist. He says: ‘I’ve recently been trying to get Jimmy Page to have lunch with me. I sent him a note saying, “I’ve been listening to all of the Zeppelin albums and I thought there’s some great stuff on there.” At the time, I didn’t like that they were trying to pinch our audience.’ Sounds like a Whole Lotta Love.He won the nickname ‘Mr Loophole’ for helping figures such as Sir David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson escape motoring convictions, but Nick Freeman has found something he can’t avoid. I hear the legal eagle suffered a violent allergic reaction to pink peppercorns. ‘One minute I was contemplating dinner; the next I was on the floor with paramedics standing over me,’ he says.Hugo conquers love’s great adventureAdventurer Hugo Turner and his fiancee, TV producer Frances de Haan The dazzling emerald ring that Hugo presented Frances with while they were in CornwallHe’s rowed the Atlantic, braved Greenland’s frozen wilderness and scaled Himalayan peaks, but now adventurer Hugo Turner has fulfilled his greatest quest yet: finding love.A year after I revealed that Hugo, 38, one half of television’s irresistible Turner Twins, was hunting for love on celebrity dating app Raya, he’s become engaged to one of his housemates, TV producer Frances de Haan.And she is also an identical twin. ‘It didn’t take long to know she was the one,’ Hugo tells me. ‘When you know, you know.’ Frances, 37, is the daughter of Archer Anthony de Haan, a descendant of the earls of Plymouth.Hugo presented her with a dazzling emerald sparkler while they were in Cornwall.The world’s most expensive chow-down? Gordon Ramsay is charging guests almost £24,000 each to eat and drink beside the track garages at the Las Vegas Grand Prix next month. His hospitality package, called Gordon Ramsay’s F1 Garage, gives motor racing fans three days of continual food and drink within a few feet of star drivers and their race cars.The experience promises: ‘Gordon Ramsay and his team of executive chefs will combine their passion for F1 with culinary expertise.‘Expert mixologists will also craft signature cocktails designed to complement the dining experience.’

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