2 weeks ago
As she studied an itemised drinks measure astatine 1 of London’s astir exclusive nightclubs, Charlotte Church was not happy.
The receipt, nan magnitude 1 would expect from a family’s play supermarket shop, was mostly made up of drinks that her fellow Kyle Johnson’s friends had racked up, swigging vodka cocktails, which moreover backmost past – 20 years agone – costs astatine slightest £15 a pop.
As she went done it, marking disconnected pinch a biro pen what wasn’t hers, nan Welsh vocalist angrily declared: ‘I’m going to make judge they pay.’
Only they didn’t.
Some minutes later I watched, aghast, arsenic Charlotte summoned nan waiter successful nan VIP area of Cirque nightclub successful London’s Leicester Square and, her look for illustration thunder, paid nan batch connected her in installments card.
Charlotte singing successful nan Voices Of A Nation performance successful Cardiff astatine nan property of 14 successful 1999
‘They conscionable expect maine to pay,’ Charlotte, past aged conscionable 18, complained. The group, she told me, had travelled from Cardiff to London pinch Johnson, a trainee edifice head and Charlotte’s 2nd due boyfriend, intent connected a large nighttime retired – astatine her expense. Clearly, it wasn’t nan first clip it had happened.
That was successful 2004, 7 years aft she catapulted to fame successful 1997, aged 11, acknowledgment to her ethereal, soprano voice, which was discovered erstwhile she sang Pie Jesu complete nan telephone to ITV’s This Morning programme. At nan tallness of her fame, she was said to beryllium worthy £25million.
Fast-forward 20 years, and past week Charlotte sensationally declared that astir of nan money has gone. ‘I’m not a millionaire immoderate more,’ she said.
Now 38, a mother of three, and joined to euphony shaper Jonathan Powell, she made nan daze revelation successful an interview, saying: ‘I haven’t sewage a batch of money. I’ve sewage capable to beryllium comfortable if I was reasonable for nan remainder of my life, but I’m not reasonable, truthful I will person to find a measurement to prolong my lifestyle.’
Her admittance comes a twelvemonth aft it was revealed she’d sold her £1.5million location successful nan Vale of Glamorgan, to downsize to a semi-detached location nearby.
Last year, she launched her latest venture, a retreat called The Dreaming, conscionable extracurricular nan distant marketplace municipality of Rhayader, Powys. There, paying guests are offered nan opportunity to link pinch quality and acquisition a ‘digital detox and cleanse’. Although it’s early days, nan business has yet to make a profit, pinch nett liabilities of £551,000. So wherever did each nan money go?
While nan ‘hangers-on’ that flocked astir her passim her chaotic teenage years decidedly played a part, Charlotte’s luck was besides chipped distant by guidance disputes, business ventures, surgery relationships and nan profligacy of her ain family.
She surely made nary concealed of really she was pressured by her begetter to support moving and adhd to her luck while she could. She said: ‘When I made money, I did opportunity to my dada erstwhile I was 14: “I’m not judge astir this showbiz stuff. I’m not really having a bully time” and he was like, “Just instrumentality astatine it arsenic we don’t get these opportunities.”
While Charlotte didn’t ever move to nan capital, she would often recreation location for large nights out
‘I did get to a shape successful my teenage years, astir 16 aliases 17, erstwhile I was like, “I don’t cognize if I tin do this s*** immoderate more.”’
It each appears to beryllium rather nan sorry script for Charlotte, who was calved successful nan Cardiff enclave of Llandaff to mother Maria and begetter Stephen Reed. Her parents divided up erstwhile she was two, and Maria went connected to wed James Church, who adopted Charlotte and she took his surname. After her sensational quality connected This Morning, she was instantly signed up by savvy showbusiness supplier Jonathan Shalit.
He secured her a lucrative euphony woody astatine Sony and her debut medium Voice Of An Angel, released successful November 1998, sold millions crossed nan world. She became 1 of nan astir talked-about kid stars connected nan planet.
She added to her luck pinch lucrative backstage gigs for nan rich | and famous: she performed for Pope John Paul II, nan precocious Queen and erstwhile US President Bill Clinton. She went connected to motorboat a popular profession and besides hosted a chat show connected Channel 4, The Charlotte Church Show.
While she was still not aged capable to clasp a driving licence, fto unsocial understand nan wranglings of precocious finance, each of Charlotte’s luck and profession were still very overmuch near to her parents and her guidance company.
In 2000, however, location was a very bitter and costly tribunal conflict pinch erstwhile head Shalit, aft he was sensationally sacked by Charlotte’s mother. He’d been claiming £4million of nan teenager’s earnings, and nan parties were heading for nan High Court earlier settling pinch a compensation package thought to beryllium worthy £2million.
She couldn’t entree her luck until she was 18, but erstwhile she yet did nan vocalist did not clasp backmost and stated she would bargain a £1million ruby-encrusted bra to people nan occasion. While it isn’t known whether she made nan acquisition aliases not, she surely lived nan precocious life, pinch those closest to her joining her for nan ride.
One subordinate who worked pinch Charlotte astatine nan clip said: ‘The problem Charlotte had was that she wanted to walk clip pinch her fellow and her friends who she grew up pinch but she had acold much money than them.
‘So she would dainty them, salary for them to spell to nan bully places and do nan bully things, whether it was a nighttime retired successful London aliases a vacation abroad.
‘She was benignant pinch it, but you person to look backmost now and wonderment if she was far, acold excessively generous.’
It didn’t extremity astatine nightclub outings. In July 2004 Charlotte took a group of friends to Ibiza wherever they stayed astatine a £25,000-per-week villa and she employed a full-time driver and bodyguard.
But it was nan number of men throwing themselves astatine her that became her anemic spot.
First was exemplary and DJ Steven Johnson, said to beryllium a ‘nice boy’, though Charlotte’s mother did not approve. Early successful their romance, Charlotte splashed retired £400,000 connected a penthouse flat connected nan picturesque Cardiff Bay truthful they could person immoderate ‘alone time’.
When they divided up aft a twelvemonth together, she moved connected to ‘bad boy’ Kyle Johnson. The brace spent 2 years partying astatine immoderate of London’s astir costly nightspots.
While Charlotte didn’t ever move to nan capital, she would regularly recreation location for large nights out, each funded by her. Another spot acquisition followed, this clip a £500,000 Edwardian four-bedroom location adjacent to her mum’s.
When she dumped Kyle aft a bid of rows, he sold his communicative to nan tabloid newspaper News Of The World conscionable days later, wherever he revealed friendly specifications astir their activity life.
The vocalist successful 2004 pinch past fellow Kyle Johnson, who later sold his communicative of their activity life to nan News Of The World
Friends opportunity that Charlotte felt ‘used’ by him and a fewer days aft his kiss-and-tell was published it was reported that Charlotte allegedly punched him aft spotting him successful a restaurant.
In 2009, he was jailed for 12 years aft £10 million-worth of heroin was recovered successful his home. Charlotte’s adjacent large romance was pinch Welsh rugby heartthrob Gavin Henson, and they were soon dubbed nan ‘Welsh Posh and Becks’. Their manner reflected their nickname. They bought an £800,000 yacht, which they moored successful Swansea Marina, and would regularly indulge successful chaotic parties.
Until, that was, Charlotte became pregnant pinch their girl Ruby, now 16. Son Dexter followed 2 years later, but nan narration pinch Henson didn’t last, and they divided up successful 2010.
Church says nan separation, conscionable six weeks aft they had announced their engagement, was mutual.
‘We divided for really normal reasons,’ she said. ‘There was ne'er immoderate master jealousy. We tried to make things work... but our location had been turning into an unhappy one.’
Charlotte extracurricular nan mansion successful cardinal Wales which is now a wellness retreat
She bought Gavin a five-bedroom spot truthful that he could unrecorded person to their children.
By 2010, Charlotte’s wealthiness had dropped to £11million and she said successful a documentary: ‘I will person to activity for nan remainder of my life, not because I want to but because I person to. The taxation man is looking astatine my accounts wondering wherever I’m hiding each my money.’
Meanwhile, Charlotte met musician Jonathan Powell and they began making love successful precocious 2010. She bought their family location successful Twyncyn, Dynas Powis, mounting her backmost different £1.3million. They joined successful 2017 and successful 2020 she gave commencement to their first kid together, Frida.
One friend said: ‘Charlotte was by acold nan breadwinner successful each of her relationships, moreover pinch Gavin who played for Wales. And that makes you vulnerable. She spent a batch of money connected these men, it was sad to watch. While she wasn’t down a mine, she did suffer a batch of her puerility to her career. Those are years she won’t get back. It seems for illustration a dreadful shame.’
It wasn’t conscionable nan men successful Charlotte’s life who were nan beneficiaries of her luck – her parents besides appeared to unrecorded their daughter’s dream alongside her.
One friend of nan prima said: ‘Maria and James lived a bully life disconnected nan backmost of Charlotte’s difficult work. That isn’t needfully different but it mightiness explicate wherever immoderate of nan money went.’
For now, though surviving a much humble life, Charlotte seems content – pinch a happy marriage, teenagers, a toddler and her caller business venture
It was Maria who accompanied Charlotte to nan This Morning studios backmost successful 1997 and she was said to person taken a ‘huge interest’ successful her daughter’s career. And location were benefits from it, too.
In 2003, erstwhile Charlotte was 17, Maria and James opened a edifice successful nan centre of Cardiff, which they named ‘Church’.
A twelvemonth later they bought a stock successful nan adjacent Robin Hood pub wherever Charlotte later met Powell.
‘Maria and James loved each nan attention,’ says a friend of nan star. ‘Charlotte would often popular into nan pub and singing connected nan karaoke instrumentality and it would go very public. Maria and James lived for illustration celebrities.
‘They were A-listers successful Cardiff – everyone knew who they were. They would socialise a lot, visiting tons of bully bars and restaurants.’
In 2006, Maria raised eyebrows erstwhile she invested hundreds of thousands of pounds to unfastened an exclusive designer apparel and footwear shop called Chiesa – nan Italian connection for Church.
They chose 1 of Cardiff’s astir sought-after areas, Pontcanna, arsenic it was high-end and ‘fabulous’ arsenic 1 erstwhile subordinate put it.
‘It was a existent position awesome for Maria to person that shop, but it didn’t last. She would alert disconnected overseas to bargain banal – a batch of money must person been wasted.’
For now, though surviving a much humble life, Charlotte seems contented – pinch a happy marriage, teenagers, a toddler and her caller business venture.
One tin only dream that nan Welsh ‘wild child’, pinch nan sound of an angel, has yet grown up, free of nan millions and nan quiet trappings of fame they tin bring.
