How rebellious porn heiress India Rose James, 28, went from the wild child princess of Soho to 18 months sober as she raises daughter Sapphire, 3 – and declares she’s ‘never felt more proud’
- India Rose James, 28, is the granddaughter of late porn baron Paul Raymond
- India and her sister inherited most of his Soho property portfolio on his death
- She was once dubbed the ‘Princess of Soho’ and known as a socialite wild child
- But India is now 18 months sober and focused on raising daughter Sapphire, 3
At just 21 years old, her vast £329million made her richer than the Queen – and she was not afraid to flaunt her extraordinary wealth on London’s social scene.
But seven years on and life is very different for heiress India Rose James, the granddaughter of late porn and property mogul Paul Raymond.
Speaking to Tatler, the self-described ‘Princess of Soho’, 28, revealed she is 18 months sober after quitting alcohol and her hard-partying ways to become a better role model for her three-year-old daughter, Sapphire.
‘I was having fun,’ she said. ‘And, yeah…like, going out was happening a bit too often, and I started getting a reputation as a party girl. Which is fine when you’re younger, but I was getting a bit…
At just 21 years old, her £329million made her richer than the Queen – and she was not afraid to flaunt her wealth on London’s social scene. But life is now very different for India Rose James, who has been sober for 18 months. Pictured, India in 2017 (left) and in October last year (right)
Mother-of-one India quit alcohol and her hard-partying ways to become a better role model for her three-year-old daughter, Sapphire, pictured together with her beloved pug Aladdin
‘I don’t judge people who are [partying], but I don’t want that. I also don’t want my daughter, if she looks me up online – which I’m sure she will at some point – to find that there are loads of articles about me out drunk. That’s not right. I want her to be reading articles about my achievements.’
Currently India’s achievements primarily involve running her gallery, Soho Revue, and restoring famous drag club Madame Jojo’s to its former glory. India is also working on a children’s book, The Adventures of Sapphire and Aladdin, named after her daughter and her pug.
The entrepreneurial streak runs in the family. Paul Raymond, India’s beloved ‘Papa’, opened the famously raunchy Raymond Revuebar in 1958 before branching out and founding his own adult magazine empire in 1964.
Over the following years ploughed his profits into property to the extent that it was said he bought a freehold a week in 1977. The nickname ‘the King of Soho’ followed.
India met former fiancé Hugh Harris (left in June 2016), lead guitarist of The Kooks, at Brown’s, Mayfair. Their first kiss was at Reading Festival in 2015 and three months later India (right in December 2016) was pregnant. Hugh proposed in 2016 but the couple never married
When Paul died in 2008, the majority of his portfolio was left to India and her half-sister Fawn (whose biological father is Duncan Mackay from the rock band 10cc, but was adopted by India’s father John James as a child) then aged 16 and 22, respectively. A hefty chunk was also left to Paul’s son Howard.
India and Fawn’s mother Debbie died of a drug overdose at the age of 36, leaving behind ten-month-old India and six-year-old Fawn.
The family fortune, which was estimated at £482 million in the 2016 Sunday Times rich list, is derived from a property empire that includes the site of Soho House, nightclub The Box, and the former premises of the bookshop Foyles.
India, photographed at home for the Tatler feature, told the magazine it got to the point where she was partying ‘a bit too often’. India lives in a three-storey property off Ladbroke Grove
In 2013 India, then 21, was the youngest person to make the Sunday Times Rich List, and was not afraid to show off her wealth.
One photograph showed a £10 note being burned with the comment ‘just saw £10 go up in flames… I could have used that to go home’.
Another tweet stated: ‘On Alex’s roof in Soho, looking down on the little people.’
India, who was kicked out of private school St George’s, Ascot over her ‘uncontrollable attitude, became a firm fixture on the London social scene, frequenting fashion launches and art openings.
It was on a night out at celebrity haunt Brown’s Hotel, in Mayfair, that she met former fiancé Hugh Harris, lead guitarist of The Kooks. Their first kiss was at Reading Festival in 2015 and three months later India was pregnant.
Paul Raymond, India’s beloved ‘Papa’, opened the famously raunchy Raymond Revuebar in 1958. Pictured, with American model and porn star Marilyn Chambers in 1979
Paul Raymond with women at the Raymond Revuebar in 1958. Paul was able to dodge decency laws that barred naked women from moving around on stage by opening the venue as a private members’ club where those rules didn’t apply. He went on to snap up acres of Soho real estate
Hugh proposed with an enormous emerald on the roof of the Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly Circus in 2016. Soon afterwards their daughter, known as Saffi, was born at The Portland Hospital in Central London, where well-heeled women including Victoria Beckham and the Duchess of York go to give birth.
However the couple never married and later separated.
Last month it was reported that India is dating Taz Fustok, the ex of designer Bella Freud, who runs celeb haunt Laylow.
Her father John, managing director at family company Soho Estates, offered his youngest daughter a job alongside her sister Fawn, who is a company director, but it is clear India wants to forge her own path.
Currently, she is focused on maintaining her sobriety. ‘Honestly, I couldn’t be prouder of myself,’ she said in the Tatler interview.
‘This probably has been the only goal I have ever set myself that I’ve actually completed.’
Asked whether she is ‘clean and serene’ at 28, she added: ‘Clean, maybe not so serene. But I’m getting there.’
See the full feature in the February issue of Tatler on newsstands and digital download now.
Source: Read Full Article