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| Birth Name(s) : Jemima Khan |
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Full Jemima Khan Biography
Jemima Khan (née Goldsmith) (born January 30, 1974) is a British socialite and UNICEF UK Ambassador.
Khan's paternal half-siblings include: Isabel, her father's first child, from his marriage to the Bolivian heiress Maria Isabel Patiño, the 18-year-old daughter of tin magnate Antenor Patiño and the Duchess of Durcal; Alix and Manes, Goldsmith's offspring with second wife and former secretary Ginette Lery; and Jetho and Charlotte, the youngest of the Goldsmith brood who were born to his mistress Laure Boulay, Comtesse de la Meurthe. Through her mother's first marriage to Mark Birley, she is also half-sister to the now deceased Rupert, businessman Robin Birley, and the artist India Jane. Rupert Birley, her mother's first child, disappeared off the coast of West Africa in 1986 and was presumed drowned.
Lady Annabel raised her children in Ormeley Lodge, a six-acre Georgian mansion on the edge of Richmond Park in Surrey, south-west London. The half-German Jewish and half-French Catholic James Goldsmith - who divided his time between Ormeley Lodge in England, a Paris mansion, an 18,000-acre estate on the Pacific coast of Mexico, a villa in Marbella, southern Spain, and his 17th-century chateau in Burgundy, France - relocated to New York in 1981 and was a rare presence in their lives.
In May 1995, the then-Jemima Goldsmith married the Pakistani cricket ace, Imran Khan, a man twice her age, whom she had met at a nightclub a few months ago. The marriage, which took place in Paris, consisted of a two-minute Islamic ceremony conducted in Urdu, followed a month later by a civil ceremony at the Richmond Register Office in England and a reception at the Goldsmiths' Surrey house. With Imran Khan being a born-again Muslim, his future wife became interested in exploring Islam, especially since, as she revealed, " didn't have any particular religion but felt an affinity to all religions and had a more or less non-religious upbringing." She studied and claims to be influenced by scholars such as Muhammad Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam and author of Road to Mecca, Gai Eaton, who wrote Islam and the Destiny of Man as a Western convert to Islam, and the Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović. Eventually, despite her Protestant upbringing, she decided to convert to Islam before tying the knot with Imran and embarking on her new married life in Lahore, Pakistan.
Khan's stay in Pakistan was marred by controversy. Because Sir James had strong Jewish ancestry, his daughter's marriage was subjected to accusations of being part of a global Zionist conspiracy to take over Pakistan. Such claims were perpetuated by Imran Khan's political opponents.
In June 2004, Imran Khan announced that he and his wife had divorced. In a statement released by his political party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, he said:
The same year, when, in an interview regarding the launch of a new UNICEF global campaign to support children affected by HIV/Aids, Khan was asked about the possibility of Grant and her rumored marriage, she cautiously replied, "If I say yes, I’m going to get married, or no, I’m not, then that gets picked up and becomes the story and it overshadows the Unicef campaign that is so important." The caution also extended to other avenues of her life. On one occasion, she declined to discuss Islam and said, "Religion for me is very personal and I don’t really like talking about it." Asked about Grant by another interviewer, she flubbed and later explained, "I don't think I am any good at interviews and I am particularly hopeless when I am asked personal questions."
Three years later, in February 2007, Grant's publicist announced that the couple had "decided to split amicably." Since then, there have been many unsubstantiated reports - because they have been spotted together - about the two getting married but the status of their relationship remains private and unknown.
She has said that being UNICEF's representative requires her to do her three least favorite things: "One is having my photograph taken, two is doing interviews and three is flying." To raise awareness about the above-mentioned reports, she appeared on the BBC Breakfast TV show to talk about child trafficking and child labour. She is also involved with UNICEF's Breastfeeding Manifesto and Make Child Poverty History campaign.
Khan has revealed: "Well, my great passion is writing." In October 2007, it was reported by the Telegraph that Khan and Gillian Slovo were teaming up to interview "people with incomes above £5 million and make it into an inquiry into the responsibilities, pleasures and obligations of great wealth" for a play about British Billionaires being initiated by Nicolas Kent, the director of Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre. |
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