Sheherazade Goldsmith
Encyclopedia
Sheherazade Bentley Goldsmith (born 14 March 1974) is an English
environmentalist
, author and socialite.
During the 1990s, Goldsmith worked in the fashion industry, first as a model and then as a marketer. In the 21st century, she has been an environmental activist who has undertaken a variety of green initiatives, starting with an Organic food
business that she ran in London from 2000 to 2002. In 2007, she edited a guide to eco-friendly living, A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog, which she followed a year later by publishing a how-to guide for celebrating Christmas in an environmentally-friendly way, called A Greener Christmas.
Goldsmith frequently contributes as a columnist
to various national newspapers and other publications in the United Kingdom
, including You Magazine, for which she has been an eco-columnist since 2008. Owing to her activism, she has been repeatedly identified by the British media as "the Poster Girl for the Green Generation" and a "Green Goddess." She runs a small organic farm in Devon
and is divorced from her husband, Zac Goldsmith
, the Conservative MP for Richmond Park
, with whom she has three children.
in London
, Goldsmith is the daughter of Colombian-born actress Viviane Ventura
and British financier
John Bentley. Born out of wedlock, her paternity was established on 13 March 1975 in the West London Domestic Court. Growing up, she had a very limited relationship with her father, a former chief executive of Barclay Securities who became a millionaire at age 28.
She grew up near King’s Road in Chelsea
with her older half-sister, Jasmine Joanna Duggan, her mother's child with first husband and film producer Frank Duggan. "Having lived in Chelsea my whole life," she has said, "[It] is my favourite area in London." Viviane Ventura raised the family by establishing an international promotions company called the Ventura Promotions, which later became Francolin Promotions Ltd. Goldsmith's family spent their summer vacations in the mountains of Northern Spain
, where she used to pick strawberries.
She was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
in London. She later attended the Aiglon College
in Switzerland
on a part-scholarship, where she was captain of the ski-team. "I have never been able to thank my mother enough for her decision to send me to Aiglon College... Along with what was essentially a privileged bunch of children, whose lives until then bore little resemblance to the real world, I learnt the pleasures of living at a human scale," she later said. She graduated Aiglon with A- levels in English Literature
, Art, Spanish
and French
. Having inherited the linguistic talent of her mother, who speaks 6 languages, Goldsmith is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian besides her native English. In 2007, she completed a three-year course in practical horticulture
at the English Gardening School, with classes held in the world-famous Chelsea Physic Garden
.
's 1993 film Storia di una capinera aka Sparrow, which was shot in Sicily
. When she got married in 1999, she commented, "I want several children but I will still work when I get married." Since then, she has been most prominent as a writer and spokesperson for environmental issues and causes.
in South Africa
to pursue modeling. She subsequently signed up with Sarah Doukas at Storm Model Management
. She modeled for catalogues such as Littlewoods but found the Milan
fashion week to be "really seedy" and "the last straw", cementing her decision to leave the catwalk. She then moved to the marketing sector of fashion and worked for Armani, Prada
, Calvin Klein
and Donna Karan
. Goldsmith has been recognized as one of her generation's foremost Englishwomen of style and glamour by magazines such as Harper's Bazaar
and the British Vogue
. She and her estranged husband were featured as one of Vanity Fair
' s Best-Dressed Couples in the magazine's 67th Annual International Best-Dressed List for 2006.
’s so-called "Nappy Valley". The cafe also soon became one of the first of its kind to set up what W magazine called a "thriving business delivering fresh, organic baby food" to interested mothers. Goldsmith cooked children's food from the shop's kitchen and served customers for almost two years. The best seller at the deli was the full English breakfast. Restaurant critic A.A. Gill said in his review, "The Deli'Organic is, despite everything, quite fun in a homespun, uncomfortable... way." Though the place was always full, according to Goldsmith's business partner, "It is almost impossible to survive in London if you stick to being 100 per cent organic... [as] the profit margins on organic food is too small." After the birth of her second child in 2002, Goldsmith closed the shop. She later said, "I wasn’t spending any time with my baby and felt utterly miserable about it."
and has been a food contributor to Harpers Bazaar magazine. In 2008, she became an eco-columnist for YOU Magazine, writing a weekly column entitled "Green Scene with Sheherazade Goldsmith". Goldsmith has also contributed columns and recipes to various media organizations and brand names such as Sophie Grigson's The Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook, Waitrose, and the UKTV Food
channel.
Though most of her writings are focused on environmental concerns and eco-friendly living, she is also quoted in British newspapers as a glamorous socialite and a mother of three. Known for having become a young mother at 26, she told the Daily Telegraph in 2002, "I hope more women do start to see the advantages of having children younger. We constantly read newspaper articles claiming that women are deliberately putting off having babies, but I don't think it's as simple as that. It's very rare to find a man under 30 who wants to settle down and have children, because they're too busy carving out their careers, so women have to adapt to that."
The book's central aim is to illustrate "that you can live anywhere and still make a contribution to the environment without actually making any sacrifices." Upon the book's publication, Goldsmith said, "There is a huge misconception that being green is more labour intensive, more expensive and means giving up all your creature comforts." Writing in The Guardian
, George Monbiot
criticized the book for not discussing issues such as lobbying for policy change and consuming less. Monbiot dismissed its approach as ineffective in meeting the challenge of dangerous climate change, since the book promotes small-scale green consumerism, but not dramatic cuts in consumption.
Goldsmith's second book, called A Greener Christmas, was published by Dorling Kindersley in September 2008. A Greener Christmas is a collection of various projects that can help families celebrate an environmentally-friendly Christmas.
, for which she also served as a spokesperson during its Organic Fortnight from 6 to 21 September 2008.
Children's Charity, for which she helped organize a fund-raising fashion show with the designers Valentine Robinson, who also designed her wedding dress. At dinner parties, she has said, she is conscious of "not being an eco-bore" and discusses her green interests only when asked. In 2007, The Sunday Times branded Goldsmith a role-model for "daughters of the best families [who] pursue prominent careers of their own" while also marrying "husbands their families will endorse".
She met her ex-husband, Zac Goldsmith
, when he sent her a bouquet of roses with his telephone number at a pizzeria in South-West London. They married four months later, on 5 June 1999, at St Simon Zelotes church in Knightsbridge
. The wedding was followed by a reception at The Ritz and a dance at the groom's childhood home, the Ormeley Lodge
. The Goldsmiths lived in a terrace home in Fulham for about three years after their marriage. The oldest of their three children, a daughter named Uma, was born on 10 April 2000. Their second daughter, Thyra, was born in 2002, followed a year later by the Goldsmith's youngest child, son James. On 29 August 2009, the Goldsmiths announced they had separated and intended to divorce. According to the London Mail on Sunday reporter Katie Nicholl, "the couple have been living in separate homes since January when The Mail on Sunday was told that their marriage was in serious trouble."
She and her children divide their time between a London
home and a farm in Devon
. In 2008, they moved from their house in Chelsea to a new one in Richmond, the prospective parliamentary constituency for Zac. Goldsmith and her children take a four-hour train trip every weekend to commute to Devon and then return to London for the week. The family owns two dogs: a mongrel called Patch and an Irish wolfhound, Emily. Goldsmith grows all of her seasonal produce on their 300 acres (1.2 km²) farm in Devon, where she keeps cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and three herds of Dartmoor ponies as well as has a vegetable garden, apple trees, and a wildlife pond.
She divorced Zac Goldsmith on the grounds of admitted adultery in 2010.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
, author and socialite.
During the 1990s, Goldsmith worked in the fashion industry, first as a model and then as a marketer. In the 21st century, she has been an environmental activist who has undertaken a variety of green initiatives, starting with an Organic food
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
business that she ran in London from 2000 to 2002. In 2007, she edited a guide to eco-friendly living, A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog, which she followed a year later by publishing a how-to guide for celebrating Christmas in an environmentally-friendly way, called A Greener Christmas.
Goldsmith frequently contributes as a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
to various national newspapers and other publications in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, including You Magazine, for which she has been an eco-columnist since 2008. Owing to her activism, she has been repeatedly identified by the British media as "the Poster Girl for the Green Generation" and a "Green Goddess." She runs a small organic farm in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and is divorced from her husband, Zac Goldsmith
Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin "Zac" Goldsmith, MP is an English environmental journalist, entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Richmond Park since winning the seat at the 2010 general election.Goldsmith is the middle child of the late financier Sir...
, the Conservative MP for Richmond Park
Richmond Park (UK Parliament constituency)
Richmond Park is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History and character:...
, with whom she has three children.
Early life and education
Born Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley at King's College HospitalKing's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is an acute care facility in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH"...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Goldsmith is the daughter of Colombian-born actress Viviane Ventura
Viviane Ventura
Viviane Ventura is a British actress. She was born on December 5, 1947, in London, but spent her childhood in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1958, she returned to the UK, where she started her film career. Ventura has made films for 20th Century Fox including High Wind in Jamaica and Lord Jim...
and British financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
John Bentley. Born out of wedlock, her paternity was established on 13 March 1975 in the West London Domestic Court. Growing up, she had a very limited relationship with her father, a former chief executive of Barclay Securities who became a millionaire at age 28.
She grew up near King’s Road in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
with her older half-sister, Jasmine Joanna Duggan, her mother's child with first husband and film producer Frank Duggan. "Having lived in Chelsea my whole life," she has said, "[It] is my favourite area in London." Viviane Ventura raised the family by establishing an international promotions company called the Ventura Promotions, which later became Francolin Promotions Ltd. Goldsmith's family spent their summer vacations in the mountains of Northern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where she used to pick strawberries.
She was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a large French primary and secondary school situated in South Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London...
in London. She later attended the Aiglon College
Aiglon College
Aiglon College is a private English-style boarding school in Switzerland, registered as a not-for-profit charitable institution, with an international student intake . The school gathers funds from full fee-paying students, from donations and via registered charitable trusts in different countries...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on a part-scholarship, where she was captain of the ski-team. "I have never been able to thank my mother enough for her decision to send me to Aiglon College... Along with what was essentially a privileged bunch of children, whose lives until then bore little resemblance to the real world, I learnt the pleasures of living at a human scale," she later said. She graduated Aiglon with A- levels in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, Art, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Having inherited the linguistic talent of her mother, who speaks 6 languages, Goldsmith is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian besides her native English. In 2007, she completed a three-year course in practical horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
at the English Gardening School, with classes held in the world-famous Chelsea Physic Garden
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in London, England in 1673. It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621.Its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants...
.
Career
Professionally, before her marriage, Goldsmith was identified varyingly as Sheherazade Ventura, which was how she was credited in her work as an actress, and Sheherazade Bentley, the name she used as the byline for her columns in newspapers such as The Sunday Times. Goldsmith's work in the 1990s was focused on fashion and acting. She portrayed the lead role in Italian director Franco ZeffirelliFranco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
's 1993 film Storia di una capinera aka Sparrow, which was shot in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. When she got married in 1999, she commented, "I want several children but I will still work when I get married." Since then, she has been most prominent as a writer and spokesperson for environmental issues and causes.
Fashion
Goldsmith followed her studies with a career in modeling and fashion marketing. At 17, she was spotted and advised by Richard BransonRichard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to pursue modeling. She subsequently signed up with Sarah Doukas at Storm Model Management
Storm Models
Storm Model Management is one of the world's leading model agencies, based in Chelsea, London.-Background:The agency has four divisions; , , and which was launched in 2006. Storm was founded in 1987 by Sarah Doukas from her house in London, securing Richard Branson as her business partner.In...
. She modeled for catalogues such as Littlewoods but found the Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
fashion week to be "really seedy" and "the last straw", cementing her decision to leave the catwalk. She then moved to the marketing sector of fashion and worked for Armani, Prada
Prada
Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...
, Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
and Donna Karan
Donna Karan
Donna Karan is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.-Early life:...
. Goldsmith has been recognized as one of her generation's foremost Englishwomen of style and glamour by magazines such as Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
and the British Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
. She and her estranged husband were featured as one of Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
Business
In 2000, while pregnant with her first child, she and her friend Serena Cook opened Deli'Organic, an organic delicatessen in BatterseaBattersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
’s so-called "Nappy Valley". The cafe also soon became one of the first of its kind to set up what W magazine called a "thriving business delivering fresh, organic baby food" to interested mothers. Goldsmith cooked children's food from the shop's kitchen and served customers for almost two years. The best seller at the deli was the full English breakfast. Restaurant critic A.A. Gill said in his review, "The Deli'Organic is, despite everything, quite fun in a homespun, uncomfortable... way." Though the place was always full, according to Goldsmith's business partner, "It is almost impossible to survive in London if you stick to being 100 per cent organic... [as] the profit margins on organic food is too small." After the birth of her second child in 2002, Goldsmith closed the shop. She later said, "I wasn’t spending any time with my baby and felt utterly miserable about it."
Journalism
Goldsmith has contributed writings on environmental concerns, organic food and products, style and beauty, and other topics to a variety of national newspapers and publications. All media for Goldsmith is handled by the PR agency Ian Monk Associates. She wrote a regular column for The Sunday Times on Organic food and dining from October 2002 to March 2003. She has also written columns for The TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and has been a food contributor to Harpers Bazaar magazine. In 2008, she became an eco-columnist for YOU Magazine, writing a weekly column entitled "Green Scene with Sheherazade Goldsmith". Goldsmith has also contributed columns and recipes to various media organizations and brand names such as Sophie Grigson's The Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook, Waitrose, and the UKTV Food
UKTV Food
Good Food is a lifestyle channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel originally launched on 5 November 2001 and relaunched in its current format on 22 June 2009. Good Food is available on satellite through Sky and on cable services, primarily...
channel.
Though most of her writings are focused on environmental concerns and eco-friendly living, she is also quoted in British newspapers as a glamorous socialite and a mother of three. Known for having become a young mother at 26, she told the Daily Telegraph in 2002, "I hope more women do start to see the advantages of having children younger. We constantly read newspaper articles claiming that women are deliberately putting off having babies, but I don't think it's as simple as that. It's very rare to find a man under 30 who wants to settle down and have children, because they're too busy carving out their careers, so women have to adapt to that."
Books
Goldsmith is the editor-in-chief of A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog, which was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2007 and became a best seller. The book offers more than 90 self-contained projects to grow food organically, cook homegrown produce, and keep specific livestock, with different applications for city dwellers, suburban populations and homeowners with vast lands. The book's projects range from growing strawberries in a hanging basket to keeping chickens or energy saving tips for home. BookPage called the book "an earnest, friendly manual that'll entice you into the kitchen to make jam, even if you've never before successfully boiled water." Publisher's Weekly pointed out, "This smorgasbord of organic recipes, tips and suggestions has something for everyone, but like a Jack-of-all-trades, it's a master of none."The book's central aim is to illustrate "that you can live anywhere and still make a contribution to the environment without actually making any sacrifices." Upon the book's publication, Goldsmith said, "There is a huge misconception that being green is more labour intensive, more expensive and means giving up all your creature comforts." Writing in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
criticized the book for not discussing issues such as lobbying for policy change and consuming less. Monbiot dismissed its approach as ineffective in meeting the challenge of dangerous climate change, since the book promotes small-scale green consumerism, but not dramatic cuts in consumption.
Goldsmith's second book, called A Greener Christmas, was published by Dorling Kindersley in September 2008. A Greener Christmas is a collection of various projects that can help families celebrate an environmentally-friendly Christmas.
Activism
Goldsmith's interest in environmental issues was sparked by motherhood. "I became interested when I became pregnant with Uma, now eight, and then suddenly became very concerned with what I was eating, what I was washing with and so on, and the effect it would have on the baby. When your child is born you start to worry about a zillion other aspects too, such as toys, food and toiletries," she told Health and Organic Living magazine. She is an admirer of David Attenborough, whose "love, passion and also his understanding of nature and what she can offer" she has praised. She is a longstanding event organiser and donor of the Soil AssociationSoil Association
The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...
, for which she also served as a spokesperson during its Organic Fortnight from 6 to 21 September 2008.
Philanthropy and social life
Goldsmith is a well-known socialite in England. She often supports London-based charities by attending society parties in their aid. She has been a committee member for the HOPING foundation, which works with Palestinian refugee children. She is also a supporter of Great Ormond Street HospitalGreat Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...
Children's Charity, for which she helped organize a fund-raising fashion show with the designers Valentine Robinson, who also designed her wedding dress. At dinner parties, she has said, she is conscious of "not being an eco-bore" and discusses her green interests only when asked. In 2007, The Sunday Times branded Goldsmith a role-model for "daughters of the best families [who] pursue prominent careers of their own" while also marrying "husbands their families will endorse".
Family and personal life
During the 1990s, Goldsmith was known as a British "It Girl". An enthusiastic Internet poker player, she has been described as a survivor and a realist by her mother Viviane, while her sister Jasmine has called her "very organized and family-oriented." While at Aiglon College in 1993, at the age of 19, Goldsmith was briefly engaged to the youngest son of an Italian duke, Pio Catemario di Quadri. The engagement was called off in 1998.She met her ex-husband, Zac Goldsmith
Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin "Zac" Goldsmith, MP is an English environmental journalist, entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Richmond Park since winning the seat at the 2010 general election.Goldsmith is the middle child of the late financier Sir...
, when he sent her a bouquet of roses with his telephone number at a pizzeria in South-West London. They married four months later, on 5 June 1999, at St Simon Zelotes church in Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
. The wedding was followed by a reception at The Ritz and a dance at the groom's childhood home, the Ormeley Lodge
Ormeley Lodge
Ormeley Lodge is a 1715 built Grade II* listed Georgian house set in on the edge of Richmond Park in Ham, London, where Lady Annabel Goldsmith raised her children.- External links :*...
. The Goldsmiths lived in a terrace home in Fulham for about three years after their marriage. The oldest of their three children, a daughter named Uma, was born on 10 April 2000. Their second daughter, Thyra, was born in 2002, followed a year later by the Goldsmith's youngest child, son James. On 29 August 2009, the Goldsmiths announced they had separated and intended to divorce. According to the London Mail on Sunday reporter Katie Nicholl, "the couple have been living in separate homes since January when The Mail on Sunday was told that their marriage was in serious trouble."
She and her children divide their time between a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
home and a farm in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. In 2008, they moved from their house in Chelsea to a new one in Richmond, the prospective parliamentary constituency for Zac. Goldsmith and her children take a four-hour train trip every weekend to commute to Devon and then return to London for the week. The family owns two dogs: a mongrel called Patch and an Irish wolfhound, Emily. Goldsmith grows all of her seasonal produce on their 300 acres (1.2 km²) farm in Devon, where she keeps cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and three herds of Dartmoor ponies as well as has a vegetable garden, apple trees, and a wildlife pond.
She divorced Zac Goldsmith on the grounds of admitted adultery in 2010.