Eric Clapton exiles daughter over Twitter spat

Eric Clapton has reportedly fallen out with his daughter Ruth. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Eric Clapton's daughter has cut him out of her life - after he told her off for tweeting about how he dressed as Kermit the Frog at a fancy-dress party.

Clapton, 70, got to know his daughter Ruth when she was six, following the death of his four-year-old son Connor, who fell from the 53rd floor of a New York skyscraper in 1991.

Now it appears 30-year-old Ruth Clapton Bartlett has become estranged from her famous father, following a spat over her sharing private information on social media.

The Daily Mail reported that earlier in the year Bartlett tweeted that Clapton had attended his fancy-dress 70th birthday party dressed as Kermit the Frog.

She also posted pictures of two Porches in a garage that were apparently taken at her father's house.

Last week, in a tweet that has since been deleted, she wrote, "I'd really rather people didn't tag me in tweets with my father anymore, we no longer have a relationship and it is just causing me hurt".

Sources close to the family confirmed to the Daily Mail that there was a rift between father and daughter that began after Clapton and his wife Melia asked Bartlett not to post family pictures on social media.

"Four months ago, she wrote her father an email saying she didn't want anything more to do with him. Eric didn't reply and she's heard nothing from him since," one said.

"Ruth is heartbroken about it. Although it was her choice to sever links, I think Ruth was a bit shocked that Eric took her at her word and has stayed out of her life."

Ruth Clapton Bartlett was the result of an affair Clapton had with recording studio manager Yvonne Kelly during his marriage to first wife Pattie Boyd.

Clapton had limited contact with his daughter, whose existence was kept secret from Boyd, until after the death of his son Conor.

He wrote in his 2007 autobiography that his daughter helped him get through the grief of losing a son.

"Yvonne knew that it would help and it was true", he wrote. "I was able to hold a child again, and to be held by a child. Ruth has been a tremendous support. I had no idea how much power a child could have on an adult life, how much it can make you feel valid, unique and strong."

- nzherald.co.nz