The simple life too much of a struggle for Jemima

By SHOLTO BYRNES in London


If marriage is a gamble, as Imran Khan's father said when his son married Jemima Goldsmith nine years ago, it is one which the couple have lost.

While Jemima is thought to be at the Goldsmith family home in Spain, her former husband has gone to a mountain retreat in Pakistan with friends to reflect on the failure of their high-profile union.

When they met in 1994, the 21-year-old Jemima and the cricketing superstar twice her age may not have seemed to have had much in common.

For her previous birthday, her billionaire father Sir James Goldsmith had flown Jemima and 100 friends to Paris for a party, at an estimated cost of £250,000.

Although studying English at Bristol University, Jemima was a fixture on the Chelsea party circuit, where her escorts included the chocolate heir Joel Cadbury, whom she once dumped on the M25 after an in-car argument.

Imran may have had a reputation as a playboy but he was now serious about his Muslim faith. He was developing a political career in Pakistan and was scathing about Western life. The subject of marriage came up at their second meeting.

That may seem surprising, but the Goldsmiths have a habit of marrying young; Jemima's father did and so have both her brothers. While Imran and Jemima came from hugely different backgrounds, Imran knew Jemima's world well.

From his flat on Draycott Ave, he had regularly ventured forth to the society fleshpots of Knightsbridge and Fulham Rd.

The Oxford-educated captain of the Pakistan cricket team was older, but in London he mixed in the same social set as the woman who was to become his wife. As his biographer, Ivo Tennant, puts it: "He seemed completely successful at straddling east and west."

Jemima was equally eager to embrace the customs and religion of her new husband, converting to Islam and taking the name Haiqa. When she and Imran moved to Pakistan, the sudden changes in her appearance and lifestyle shocked many, but she insisted she was content living a simpler life and swapping designer dresses for the shalwar kameez.

Nevertheless, there were persistent rumours that she was unhappy. Conditions at their home in Lahore were reportedly very different to those Jemima was used to. They occupied three rooms in her father-in-law's house, as opposed to the vast Goldsmith estates in France, Mexico and Spain.

Peeling wallpaper, stained carpets and intermittent water and electricity contrasted poorly with the splendours of Ormeley Lodge, her family's London residence.

Imran spent his time raising funds for the cancer hospital he built in memory of his mother, and fighting for his political party Tehrik-I-Insaaf.

He appeared unsympathetic to how his wife, with whom he has two young sons, was coping with her new life. "Struggle is good for you," he said. "Life has been very easy for Jemima. Maybe I'm a godsend to make her struggle."

In December, Jemima explained why she had moved back to England with her sons Sulaiman, 7, and Qasim, 4, whose Muslim upbringing she is now determined should be complemented by a Western education.

It was noted that while Hugh Grant attended Jemima's 30th birthday party at Annabel's, the Mayfair nightclub named after her mother, this year, Imran did not.

Neither was he present in March for the launch of Lady Annabel's memoirs at the Ritz. Only a couple of weeks ago, Imran and Jemima went to Spain for a holiday, but then, last week they announced their divorce.

There have been suggestions that this was more Jemima's decision, although Imran's refusal to compromise may have contributed.

He is said to have become increasingly conservative about the role of women, and Jemima may no longer have been willing to be as dutiful a wife as was wished.

She made considerable sacrifices for the sake of her marriage. It may have been his unwillingness to make sacrifices in return that led to this gamble not coming off.

- INDEPENDENT