THE VILLAGE IDIOT WRITES ON HIS FRIEND ROYAL BIOGRAPHER LADY COLIN CAMPBELL

Regal Jamaican
Peter Jarrette visits LADY COLIN CAMPBELL at her London home, where she chats about her two sons, her career as a best selling author, the royal family, and what she has in common with Carrie Bradshaw.

In a quiet, upmarket quarter in the South London area of Kennington, there is a small walled garden shaded by a handsome fir tree. Secluded garden steps lead to a door next to a turret and at the top of that turret is the boudoir of the most gracious woman, the Jamaican born citizen of the world, Lady Colin Campbell.

Georgie, as her friends, new and old, know her, greets me with a warm and immediate hug. She flings open the garden door entrance to her London home and bathes my ears with her rich, cultured Jamaican accent, “Darling! How are you? You found me! We meet again!”

Lady Colin Campbell or Georgie Ziadie (to use both her less formal first name and her maiden name) has the ends of her tumbling blonde locks loosely wrapped in curlers, and only a scant application of foundation on her serene face. She is wearing a casual jersey top and dark denims.

Although London is her base, Georgie’s Kennington home sees her in residence only once a week for a day or three as she alights in London for business—publishing, media and of course shopping. Her second home is a stunningly large concern—a chateau in the south of France. Chateau de L’Algarie, in the Tarn region (the famous Roquefort cheese producing domain) is set in an idyllic parkland and is towered by ancient trees. Twenty kilometres east of Albi, the L’Algarie area boasts a treasured Cathedral, and has been named a World Heritage Site.

Halfway between her many-roomed, jaw-droppingly large chateau and her much more compact London pad is her apartment in Paris —a pied-a-terre that she arrives to from time to time. “...for the shops and the fine dining in the city of lights darling.” Our lady leads me into her objet d’art-filled Kennington drawing room.

“I’ve always kept homes in London. I’ve lived in Belgravia for thirty years, the lovely Campden Hill in Notting Hill, and then Mayfair. For the past four years I’ve kept this home; it’s more of an investment for my two sons but now I’ve fallen totally in love with it and the area. It’s beyond what they like to say these days. You know that phrase, up-and-coming. It’s actually one of the most sought after boroughs I’m told. Be that as it may, to me none of that matters. I’m very comfortable here in my most adored city; there are many that hold my heart, but London, for me, without a doubt, has everything...the theatre, the classical concerts, the social life and culture, culture, culture.”

Lady Colin Campbell, Georgie, was born into one of Jamaica’s wealthiest, most prominent families, the Ziadies. Her father was of royal Russian bloodline. His family were Greek Orthodox Catholic who had settled in Lebanon. Her mother, a celebrated Jamaican beauty, came from English, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish ancestry. Georgie’s maternal great-grandmother, family name De Pass, was Sephardic Jew, and hers was one of the earliest European families to arrive in Jamaica whose Spanish ancestors had fled their country during the Spanish Inquisition. “One could never take part in a war,” Georgie smiles, giving me her take on her very mixed heritage. “Because one’s foot would be fighting with one’s hand.”

The artworks, religious iconography mixed with varied items such as hand crafted Russian lacquer boxes and lacquer eggs on French antique side tables, hold testimony to her intriguing multicultural life story. A small table at a window is laden with family photos. There is Georgie being presented to the late Pope Jean Paul II; and a black and white from many, many years gone by of her mother leading her father’s famous Jamaican racehorse, Patriotic Lady, back to a paddock after a winning race. “In fact,” Georgie says, “the Ziadies, for forty years, were Jamaica’s leading racing family.”

There are photos of her two eighteen year old sons—both adopted as infants from Russia and schooled privately in France—enjoying holidays on sandy beaches. These are intermingled with photos of her much loved pets, two of which, Tum Tum, a Springer Spaniel, and that pet’s daughter, Popsie Miranda, are the subject of her most current novel, With Love from Pet Heaven (Dynasty Press-London).

“My boys, Dima and Misha, enjoy coming home with me, studies permitting,” Georgie says, speaking with pride of her handsome sons, and of her home, Jamaica, with a definite fondness. “You know, not a lot of people realise just how sophisticated Kingston is. I go back as often as I can. I consider myself to be very, very fortunate to be born and brought up in such a wonderful, vibrant country as Jamaica...especially at the time I was.”

Georgie is a product of Jamaica’s heyday, a swan-song time of the Colonial era. “That world of my childhood no longer exists,” she says, wistfully, but not sadly. “When I’m there with my boys or on my own, whatever, there is that modernity of culture that still holds some lustre of the old days...nice homes, social gatherings and so forth.

I think the multiculturalism of the Caribbean is to be celebrated. Jamaica and all her sister countries of the region have become infinitely richer because of it, and this should be the case as multicultural societies are on the rise globally.”

Georgie left Jamaica in her late teens for studies abroad, in New York City. With her exotic looks and enriching confidence it was not long until she found herself in the giddy-making world of fashion and modelling. In America she was befriended by Prince Serge Obolensky, the former husband to Russian Czar Alexander II’s daughter, Princess Catherine Yourievsky. From there Georgie’s entry into famed east coast WASP society, and eventually New York’s celebrated cafe and showbiz world, followed; and with that came introductions to the shakers, movers and members of European royalty.

“You know,” Georgie says, settling into a series of easy poses for our photographer, Tristan Glinski, “when I was running from set to set and shoot to shoot back in the New York of the 70’s I really disliked the whole process of posing and having my picture taken. It was a crashing bore! But now,” she purrs, twinkling at her handsome photographer, “I don’t mind it one little bit.”

Lady Colin Campbell is refreshingly playful and cheeky by nature, for a woman happy to claim her 62nd year of a marvellous life. “In fact darling...go ahead and write that I’m really 97 years old!” she insisted, throwing her head back, rocking with laughter and breaking her pose. “Georgie!” Tristan growled. She collected herself, “Oh...so sorry.”

Georgie’s studies in Manhattan in the 70’s were at the renowned Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), which was and still is famous for igniting the talents and careers of many of the industry’s leading designers. She immersed herself naturally in Apparel Design.

More than familiar with the sumptuousness of her mother’s couture collection, it was the more homespun handiwork of West Indian cutwork embroidery that carried her design spirit at first. “This craftsmanship was exquisite to behold. I shudder to think what such attention to detail in a couture garment would cost today! The detail, colour and feel of the garments...or in fact anything that it was applied to...even soft furnishings, was fabulous to behold. As I grew more and more appreciative of high fashion I acquired my own collection of delightful couture. I have many, many pieces that I would never dispose of that I have amassed over the decades. My darling, I have them all...Lanvin, Guy Laroche, Givenchy, Valentino, Murray Arbeid...all genius creators. But my most cherished piece to this day, and one I still trot out for special events, is by the Jamaican designer, Joyce Delisser.” Not at all worried about the number of times a creation can make a public appearance, Georgie more than proudly declares, “I’ve worn it to the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot three times!”

I ask if Her Majesty has seen it and whether she made comment. “My dear, Her Majesty see’s everything and comments on nothing.” Staying on the subject of clothes she says, “My time at FIT gave me fashion knowledge confidence. I learned to discern the ‘fabric’ of garments, and the construction entailed in making quality pieces; but the truly, truly useful knowledge I am forever grateful for is that of ‘mix and match’. As happy as I am in gowns worth an arm and a leg I can feel just as luxurious in a well-spotted item for five pounds. Forty-four years of couture fill my wardrobes but a nice pair of trousers or a simple skirt, an easy blouse, sweater or t-shirt and a smart jacket is what I require for my busy day-to-day life. These are the real clothes for a woman, what we are really seen in most of the time, and they are far more current and versatile than any yardage of slick organza that you see traipsing the international catwalk.”

Georgie is instructed by Tristan to change into something casual for another shoot. This would be her second change for the afternoon and she positively bounds up the circular staircase of her turret to the upstairs quarters on the third level of her home. Her modelling days have equipped her with the knowledge that time is money and photographers can be notorious task masters. Her hair and make-up touched up in record time by her own hand, she sprints back down. “How many shoes would you say you own Georgie?” I ask. “Shoes?” she repeats, breaking into a wide grin. Her eyes sparkle. “Aren’t they just the most glorious things?” I ask if she thinks she may have as many as, or more than, Carrie Bradshaw. “My dear, who?” She cocks her head towards me as the photographer leads her to the next ‘spot’ of natural light.

Her downtime is obviously not spent in front of any televisions in any of her homes. She has spoken of her love for classical music, the great composers, pianists and conductors, and the ballet—especially the Kirov Russian Ballet of St. Petersburg. She’d been in brief reverie over the gods of dance, Igor Zelinsky and Diana Vishnava, in particular. She’d giggled about her need to make and bottle her own fruit jams from her south of France property—damson, yellow Mirabel and red plum jams. “I have to darling. Otherwise the fruit just falls and rots on the ground!”
I explain just what a Carrie Bradshaw is. “Well she sounds delightful. But I think she must buy far too many shoes. What does this city girl do?” I explain that the character is a writer, a novelist. “Well so am I!” Georgie says, warming to the idea of Carrie.

Georgie has some seven or eight bestselling titles to her name. Her 1992 book about Diana Princess of Wales Diana in Private was a runaway international bestseller as was a subsequent biography of the late Princess The Real Diana (2004). Her own Autobiography A Life Worth Living (1998) was also serialised in the UK’s Daily Mail. Her controversial novel Empress Bianca (2005) wrapt US and UK society watchers with insider intrigue.

Lady Colin Campbell’s most recent novel (besides With Love From Pet Heaven - that has been written playfully under the name of the book’s protagonist, her Springer Spaniel, Tum Tum) is the revealing story of her own relationship with her mother in Daughter of Narcissus (2009).

“Shoes? Well, oh dear. I think I must have about two hundred pairs but I only wear my favourite four or five pairs. Is that naughty? I just can’t resist buying them. They really are so inspiring! I think that on the basis that a writer can never write too many books and a woman can never have too many shoes both Carrie and I can easily be forgiven.”

It was in New York where Lady Colin Campbell met her husband-to-be Lord Colin Ivar Campbell, the son of Ian Campbell the 11th Duke of Argyll. They were married quickly in 1974 and divorced a year later. For Georgie that year was a traumatic time and one best consigned to its own corner of history.

Having said that, this brief union cemented Georgie Ziadie on the international circuit and like her meteoric entry to modelling it didn’t take more than two beats before she was enjoying a sensational arrival to the literary and social worlds that drive the celebrity and personality fuelled machine of the media.

The fact too that Georgie was already connected to British royalty through common ancestors, most notably William the Conqueror and Emperor Charlemagne, wouldn’t have hampered her stratospheric mobility. As Lady Colin Campbell she has been moving in rarefied company for most of her life and even her sons have enjoyed the attentions of both Prince William and Prince Harry when as youngsters they were entertained for an afternoon by the two ‘older boys’ while the adults enjoyed a day watching polo. “My boys hadn’t a clue who their playmates were,” Georgie says and adds, “the Princes were happy to entertain my two younger boys and I knew then that they were young men with great spontaneity, generosity and candidness. They showed such strength of character.” And none of the folie de grandeur that she feels Diana and Sarah Ferguson suffered from.

The lives of Europe’s royal families during the late 70’s, 80’s and 90’s is best known to Georgie as she truly found her place amongst them during this period. Of course Great Britain’s royals were best known to her. “That time has moved on, our royals’ values have changed as have their roles in society by and large. My books at that time documented precisely what sort of powerplay and mind games were employed behind the scenes. I explored the psyche of the main players of the day. They were very interesting times.” And Lady Colin Campbell’s take on the modern royals...on Will and Kate? “Well today of course we have a new generation of royals who have set about their lives in more real terms. I have great hopes for Kate Middleton’s arrival to the Windsor clan. Her parents and her sister handled themselves impeccably throughout the run up to and the day of the wedding.” In her much called upon role as royal pundit, Lady Colin Campbell appeared, as she has done off and on over the years, on CNN and a variety of world channels, shedding light on the events involved in the makings of a royal wedding, and what backstage manoeuvrings would inevitably be unfolding. Of Queen Elizabeth II she says, “I have always and will always admire her decency, integrity, dedication, tenacity and wonderful sense of humour.”

Lady Colin Campbell’s next project, already being penned, will be another international, and without a doubt, groundbreaking book on a senior member of the English royal family. The project has already garnered attention from the powerful spheres of publishing in NYC and London.

But in the personal life of the down-to-earth, affable and always laughing Georgie, there are homes to run and growing sons to oversee. “My boys like to eat when they are at home from studies and I have a secret recipe for homemade Bolognese that drives them and me mad! I’d tell you my secret but then I’d rather prepare it for you. I am a whiz at Spaghetti Vongole too and I’m a mean Jamaican cook. My jerk chicken is legendary!”

Our globetrotting writer and author also swears by lean meats and fish which obviously agree with her trim frame. I ask what her sin food is. “Tambrin balls! A friend just carried me two packs from home this week and I gobbled them up in bed at 2 a.m. after returning from dinner.” As we begin to wrap up our long and entertaining afternoon with this treasure chest of a personality I ask quickly about her beauty secrets and regime.

“Darling, beauty comes most definitely from within; I have no regime. I drink gallons of water. I drink Champagne, lager, diet coke and diet ginger beer...and it has to be D&G from Jamaica. It’s the best! Perhaps when they read this they would kindly send me a few crates? My busy life is my exercise. I’ve never had a facial; and I do wear make-up every day whether I’m in or out. I believe that it protects the skin.” I ask quickly, “Scent?” “My dear, Khus Khus by Benjamin. I adored it as a girl growing up. Oh, it’s gorgeous. Why, just recently as I flew out of Jamaica I bought six bottles at the airport...it’s so hard to find nowadays.”

As I leave I note the collection of magazines and books on Lady Colin Campbell’s reception table. It displays tidy piles of fashion and society glossies, some of which she has appeared in; Tatler, Vanity Fair, Vogue and beside them hardcover books on Jamaican art, cooking and interior design. Lady Colin Campbell or Georgie Girl, it is more than obvious, straddles cultures, societies and lifestyles as effortlessly as she strides the globe. 

With Love from Pet Heaven (Dynasty Press Ltd) is available on Amazon.

Peter Jarrette author/artist: Facebook.com/peter.jarrette (Peter Jarrette’s 1st novel Young and Pretty New York City is optioned by Dynasty Press Ltd).