SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Exit the dress designer who dared to clash with Carole Middleton

She was one of Britain’s leading couturiers and made Sarah, Duchess of York’s dress for her wedding at Westminster Abbey. 

But Lindka Cierach has taken the dramatic step of closing down her fashion business.

Cierach — whose clients included Queen Rania of Jordan and Hollywood star Catherine Zeta-Jones — hit the headlines when she became involved in an acrimonious row with Carole Middleton.

‘That’s a part of my life that’s been and done,’ Lindka tells me when asked about the dispute with the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother.

Carole Middleton, 60, who grew up in a council house before becoming a successful businesswoman, commissioned Lindka to make her outfit for Kate and Prince William’s wedding in 2011
Fashion designer Lindka Cierach, 62, who became involved in an acrimonious row with Carole Middleton, has taken the dramatic step of closing her business in South Kensington, London

Fashion designer Lindka Cierach, 62, (right), who became involved in an acrimonious row with Carole Middleton (left), has taken the dramatic step of closing her business in South Kensington, London

Lindka, 62, who began creating elegant outfits (prices started at £4,500) at her studio in London’s South Kensington in 1979, is now pursuing a career as a healer. 

‘I used to get very drained by being with difficult people,’ she says in an online comment explaining her new path.

Carole, 60, who grew up in a council house before becoming a successful businesswoman, commissioned Lindka to make her outfit for Kate and Prince William’s wedding in 2011.

But after spending four months attending many secret fittings, Carole left the designer stunned only days before the ceremony by refusing to wear the creation.

Lindka still refuses to discuss the dispute, but the allegations made at the time were potentially damaging to her business.

Carole was reported to have accused Lindka, who was approached to make a dress with a matching tailored jacket, of being ‘unaccommodating’. It was reported that she had asked the couturier if the outfit could be delivered, unfinished, to her home so she could show it to her friends. 

Lindka told Carole the request was unconventional — people usually visit the studio — but that she would allow the outfit to leave only if she could accompany it herself to ensure it was not damaged, and that details of the design were not leaked to other parties.

Carole Middleton, 60, commissioned Lindka to make her outfit for Kate and Prince William’s wedding in 2011, but ended up wearing an outfit from a different designer (pictured on her daughter's wedding day, above)

Carole Middleton, 60, commissioned Lindka to make her outfit for Kate and Prince William’s wedding in 2011, but ended up wearing an outfit from a different designer (pictured on her daughter's wedding day, above)

Carole and Michael Middleton attending the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011

Carole and Michael Middleton attending the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011

According to a source, Lindka was taken aback when Carole refused and said she no longer wished to wear the outfit.

A fashion insider said: ‘It is unheard of for a couturier to allow something out of their studio unfinished.’

Lindka was reported to have been left ‘completely bemused after all the hard work she had put into creating the outfit’.

She tells me: ‘I’m now involved in healing and a more balanced and spiritual way of life. It’s a different path and a very happy departure for me.’

 

Now Charles uses royal helicopter to see flower show 

Hard on the heels of my revelations yesterday about Prince Charles using the royal helicopter to attend a polo match, there is more evidence of his extravagant travel habits.

This week, Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall used the red Sikorsky helicopter to attend the Sandringham Flower Show in Norfolk — a trip involving four flights, as the crew had to travel from their base in Hampshire.

It came just four days after the ‘green’ Prince used it to attend a polo match in Windsor — an expedition that racked up 256 air miles and used about 200 gallons of aviation fuel.

The helicopter is funded by taxpayers, who have also had to stump up £1.2 million for a new hangar that opened at RAF Odiham this month.

By contrast, when the Queen visits Sandringham, she can usually be seen catching a scheduled train from King’s Cross to King’s Lynn — at a cost of £44.20 with a Senior Railcard.

No wonder her son and heir has started to be known as ‘Air Miles Charlie’.

 

Bo to wed her beau

It's been a tough year for Lady Catherine Brudenell-Bruce, aka The Voice finalist Bo Bruce.

She had surgery in January after the discs in her jaw wore away, and then she fractured her coccyx in a fall a few months later.

But the 30-year-old — whose mother, the Countess of Cardigan, died of cancer in 2012 — finally has something to sing about: she has become engaged to her producer, Henry Binns, 44, of the pop group Zero 7.

Lady Catherine Brudenell-Bruce, aka The Voice finalist Bo Bruce, is to marry 44-year-old Henry Binns (above)

Lady Catherine Brudenell-Bruce, aka The Voice finalist Bo Bruce, is to marry 44-year-old Henry Binns (above)

Bo Bruce flashes her engagement ring as she celebrates with a glass of bubbles following the announcement

Bo Bruce flashes her engagement ring as she celebrates with a glass of bubbles following the announcement

‘I get to wake up next to my very best friend and wingman for the rest of my life,’ Bo tells me. ‘We couldn’t be happier.’

Hopefully, Bo will be reconciled with her father, the Earl of Cardigan, in time for the wedding. 

She said of him: ‘I have no parents. That [relationship] was never going to be.’

 

Corbyn sparks another coup

Literary observers of Jeremy Corbyn’s unstoppable rise can be excused for experiencing a bout of deja-vu.

The emergence of a Left-wing Labour leader who sweeps to power on a radical manifesto eerily echoes the plot of A Very British Coup, the 1982 novel by former minister Chris Mullin. The book has twice been adapted for television.

Now the author has revealed that, following the Corbyn insurgency, he is plotting a follow-up to the story of an unassuming trades unionist who enters Downing Street after vowing to get rid of nuclear weapons and end Britain’s economic dependence on City bankers.

‘I have plans for a sequel, but it may be some time,’ Mullin discloses. ‘Jeremy’s first problem is that he will face a rebellion. Some Labour MPs may actively seek to undermine him, as they did in the novel.’ 

 

Loudmouth former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson’s big announcement yesterday, that he would be starring in a new motor show for subscription TV channel Amazon Prime, seems to have left his daughter Emily unimpressed. 

Amazon is better known as an online retailer and Em says: ‘So, is he going to be delivering my parcels then?’ Clearly she’s inherited her old man’s sense of humour.

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