In a heartwarming turn of events, Kiera Chaplin, the granddaughter of cinematic legend Sir Charlie Chaplin, has announced her engagement to Swiss financier Mauricio Safdie. This joyous news comes almost two decades after her life was thrown into turmoil by a previous fiancé, who was later imprisoned for serious financial crimes.
A New Chapter After Past Heartbreak
The 43-year-old model and actress shared the happy news online, posting a photograph of her 60-year-old partner, Mauricio Safdie, proposing on bended knee. Kiera Chaplin captioned the image, 'Got the best surprise of my life today.' Speaking about the engagement, she said, 'We've just got engaged, so we're just enjoying that for now. We haven't started thinking about the wedding yet.'
Kiera, the eldest daughter of Charlie Chaplin's son Eugene Chaplin and great-granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, met Safdie through mutual friends in Switzerland, where she now resides. She noted that her fiancé 'usually likes to be private.'
A Spectacularly Collapsed Past Engagement
This engagement marks a fresh start for Kiera, whose previous relationship ended in a highly publicised scandal. She was formerly engaged to French financier and photographer Count Alexandre de Basseville, whom she first met when she was just 16 and he was 28. Their wedding plans disintegrated in 2007 when de Basseville was sentenced to ten years in prison for money laundering through Kiera's film company, Limelight, and for drug dealing.
The court heard he had attempted to orchestrate deals to smuggle 500,000 ecstasy pills into the United States. Reflecting on that period, Kiera Chaplin said her life had been 'ruined,' explaining, 'I have attracted the wrong people. Also, with the Chaplin name, people can want to know you for the wrong reasons.'
De Basseville has since been released from prison and is now married to former Miss Albania, Egla Harxhi. The couple live in Paris and have a child named Lucifer.
Other News in Brief
Alexa Chung's Tax Settlement: Model and presenter Alexa Chung has finally settled a long-standing dispute with HM Revenue & Customs concerning her liquidated TV production company, The Last Battalion. The company, which held £3.4 million when wound up in 2017, can now be formally dissolved in February, closing a process that will have taken nine years.
Patricia Hodge's Theatrical Grit: Veteran actress Patricia Hodge, 79, has been battling laryngitis but has heroically refused to miss preview performances of The Rivals at London's Orange Tree theatre. The artistic director praised her as 'a remarkable actor refusing to take a show off.'
Earthshot Prize Receives Major Donation: Prince William's Earthshot Prize has received a £3 million pledge from the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, founded by easyJet entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The donation will support the prize's mission to fund innovative environmental solutions.
Graham Norton's Cinema Grievance: Chat show host Graham Norton has voiced his frustration with modern cinema audiences, lamenting the distracting 'pools of light' from mobile phones used throughout films.
Lord Mandelson's Oxford Link: Despite resigning as an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford, following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, the college's website retains a positive announcement about his past appointment as British Ambassador to the US, expressing hope to host him again.
