Should Keith Richards REALLY be smoking next to Jade Jagger's boy? Backlash from fans after Rolling Stone is seen holding lit cigarette near to her one-year-old son

  • Jade shared an Instagram picture of son Ray with the ageing rock star
  • Fans immediately questioned whether he should have been smoking
  • Jade and Ray are in Columbia with the Rolling Stones, who are on tour

By Laura Lambert Showbusiness Reporter For The Daily Mail

Published: 17:59 EST, 11 March 2016 | Updated: 20:42 EST, 11 March 2016

At first glance it looks like a charming scene of Keith Richards teaching Mick Jagger’s little grandson to draw.

But his art lesson for one-year-old Ray has got the Rolling Stones guitarist into trouble – because he can be seen holding a lit cigarette.

Joining the pen pots and sketch pads on the table are a packet of cigarettes, an ashtray with a stubbed out cigarette and a lighter.

Art lessons: A smoking Keith Richards with Jade Jagger's son Ray. Cigarettes, a lighter and an ash tray are seen on the table amongst the sketch pad and pens

Art lessons: A smoking Keith Richards with Jade Jagger's son Ray. Cigarettes, a lighter and an ash tray are seen on the table amongst the sketch pad and pens

Mother: Ray and Jade (pictured together on his first birthday) are accompanying the Stones on their tour

Mother: Ray and Jade (pictured together on his first birthday) are accompanying the Stones on their tour

The decision by 72-year-old Richards to smoke in front of the toddler yesterday prompted a backlash from campaigners and fans.

Ray and his mother Jade Jagger are accompanying the Stones on tour. This photo appears to have been taken in Bogota, Colombia, where the band played on Thursday.

The 42-year-old jewellery designer captioned the picture with the words: ‘A little drawing class with Keith.’ But one of her online followers responded: ‘Cute pic. But the smoking next to him is unacceptable. Please keep your babe away from it. Peace.’

Another wrote in Portuguese: ‘Smoking in the child’s face’, and another asked: ‘Is that lit?’

Professor Kevin Fenton, of Public Health England, said children were ‘especially vulnerable’ when breathing secondhand smoke. ‘Their lungs are still developing and it can put them at risk of developing serious health conditions,’ he said.

Chainsmoker: Richards with his wife Anita Pallenberg and children at Cannes in 1971

Chainsmoker: Richards with his wife Anita Pallenberg and children at Cannes in 1971

Doting grandpa: Ray, pictured here with grandfather Mick Jagger, experienced his first Rolling Stones gig this week after he and his mother travelled to Bogota, Columbia, in South America

Doting grandpa: Ray, pictured here with grandfather Mick Jagger, experienced his first Rolling Stones gig this week after he and his mother travelled to Bogota, Columbia, in South America

Ailsa Rutter, director of anti-smoking campaign group Fresh, said: ‘When a cigarette burns it gives off thousands of chemicals, like carbon monoxide, tar and arsenic. 

'Breathing in smoke in confined indoor spaces puts children not only at greater risk of respiratory conditions like asthma and bronchitis, but also of more serious life-threatening conditions.’

Richards, thought to be a chain-smoker, said last year that he sometimes smokes cannabis, but he gave up cocaine nearly a decade ago.

Last night his spokesman declined to comment.

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