Ralph Fiennes' sister Martha to wed widower of Isabella Blow, Detmar

August 2024 · 4 minute read

Her suicide devastated her family and the nation’s fashion industry, but nearly a decade after the death of eccentric style icon Isabella Blow, I can reveal her widower Detmar has finally found happiness again.

The barrister and art dealer, whose grandfather was the Duke of Westminster’s estates manager, is to marry film director Martha Fiennes, sister of Hollywood actors Joseph and Ralph.

‘Detmar and I are engaged, I am so happy. My ring is being made as we speak,’ Martha, 52, tells me.

Isabella Blow, who died almost a decade ago, with husband Detmar in 2005

Isabella Blow, who died almost a decade ago, with husband Detmar in 2005

The barrister and art dealer, whose grandfather was the Duke of Westminster¿s estates manager, is to marry film director Martha Fiennes, sister of Hollywood actors Joseph and Ralph (pictured)

The barrister and art dealer, whose grandfather was the Duke of Westminster’s estates manager, is to marry film director Martha Fiennes, sister of Hollywood actors Joseph and Ralph (pictured)

‘It’s a really unbelievable diamond ring with a Mogul emerald. It’s like a spaceship.’

Martha, who directed Ralph in Chromophobia and Onegin, has never been married despite trying for 20 years to persuade her long-term partner, film director George Tiffin, to tie the knot.

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They had three children before splitting in 2011, after which Martha started dating hedge fund tycoon Issam Kabbani, to whom she got engaged — though the relationship collapsed soon after. Speaking at The Ivy Kensington Brasserie’s Terrace launch party, she adds: ‘Detmar proposed to me in his own style.

‘He’s very eccentric, full of feeling, he’s completely out there, but also he’s an absolute gent.

‘I feel very blessed.’

Detmar, 52, was married to Isabella, famous for discovering model Sophie Dahl and designer Alexander McQueen, from 1989 until 2007.

Martha, who directed Ralph (pictured together with other sister Sophie) in Chromophobia and Onegin, has never been married

Martha, who directed Ralph (pictured together with other sister Sophie) in Chromophobia and Onegin, has never been married

A year later he started dating Brazilian artist Mara Castilho, with whom he had a son, Sasha, but Mara upped sticks to Portugal in 2011 barely a year after they wed. However, one issue that might cause problems is Martha’s religious beliefs.

‘Detmar has very different views to me,’ she explains. ‘I do believe in reincarnation. He roars with laughter when I say that — but in an affectionate way.’

 

Another playmate for ten-month-old Princess Charlotte.

Prince William’s Old Etonian chum James Tollemache has had his first child, a daughter named Sylvie, with Princess Florence von Preussen — great-great-granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a stylist at Oka, the furniture store co-founded by Samantha Cameron’s mother, Viscountess Astor.

James’s 21st birthday party resulted in William jumping into a moat wearing only boxer shorts and a feather boa. Presumably, the christening will be a more sedate affair.

  Nadine Dorries, the Mid-Bedfordshire MP who moonlights as a chick-lit author, seems to be proving a hit with readers

Nadine Dorries, the Mid-Bedfordshire MP who moonlights as a chick-lit author, seems to be proving a hit with readers

Nadine Dorries, the Mid-Bedfordshire MP who moonlights as a chick-lit author, seems to be proving a hit with readers.

The colourful Tory, known for her turn on ITV’s reality show I’m A Celebrity… , has earned £2,227.30 by loaning her lurid page-turners to public libraries, according to parliamentary records.

The payday adds to the almost £300,000 former nurse Dorries’ literary sideline has raked in through royalties and advances.

 

Beware complimenting Lady Jenkin on what she is wearing — she might start stripping off and giving you her clothes.

The eccentric Tory peer described in a House of Lords debate on recycling how she used to have a beautiful pink hat which she bought in a charity shop. ‘I wore and wore it until eventually I thought: “I cannot wear that pink hat any more because they will all think I’ve got only one hat.”

‘So, at a reception at a constituency event, when a lady came to me and said: “I so admire your pink hat,” there was no one happier than me to give it to her, knowing that it would be loved and reused.’

  Now Lord Palumbo¿s model daughter Petra, 26, is proving she is no less well-connected, having been unveiled as the face of shoe designer Charlotte Olympia¿s new collection

Now Lord Palumbo’s model daughter Petra, 26, is proving she is no less well-connected, having been unveiled as the face of shoe designer Charlotte Olympia’s new collection

'Nude' peer's girl a trick of the eye

Her property developer father was a confidant of Princess Diana and is godfather to Princess Beatrice.

Now Lord Palumbo’s model daughter Petra, 26, is proving she is no less well-connected, having been unveiled as the face of shoe designer Charlotte Olympia’s new collection.

She shared this picture online and captioned it: ‘Crouching Zebra, Hidden Eye.’

Petra is a canny choice for the wedding-themed campaign: she recently got engaged to Scottish clan chief Lord Lovat.

Showing off her slim physique, she crouches in a zebra-patterned dress, which matches not only her high-heeled shoes, but also the floor and wall, so creating the illusion that she is completely naked.

 

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