I’m going to admit something a little bit shameful – I’m secretly fascinated by that odious little sh*t James Stunt.
Yes, the outrageously silly bloke who travels around London in a convey of Rollers, Lamborghinis and Range Rovers, with more security than the Pope or Donald Trump.
I admit, Mr Stunt’s exterior packaging is not great – that slicked back hair is too eighties for my taste and his embroidered slippers just look naff – so it’s hard to see what attracted the beautiful millionairess Petra Ecclestone to this comic vulgarian, whose exact job description has always been a mystery, who claims to have an art collection worth millions and properties all over the place.
James Stunt (pictured leaving the Central Family Court in London) is a fascinatingly odious little sh*t, writes Janet Street-Porter
Stunt is fascinating because he’s utterly shameless, he’s made boasting an art form, and claims to have a convicted gangster as his best pal and very unlikely godfather (as in the guy who’s charged at your christening with giving you moral guidance as opposed to mafia don).
He’s a man whose gorgeously embellished tales of extravagance take your breath away.
James has admitted: ‘I definitely had a gambling problem’..but now he ‘only’ bets £20,000 a night, ‘which is a huge improvement on losing £5 million’. But has Mr Stunt finally shot himself in the foot?
Bernie Ecclestone, the former boss of Formula One, is not an adversary most people would relish taking on – but this week James has given an interview to the posh people’s glossy magazine Tatler in which he calls his former father in law ‘a dwarf’, describes his ex-wife as someone who has ‘had a lobotomy…and a horrible human being’ and his ex mother in law as ‘Lady Macbeth’.
He appears to be brimming with hatred and seeking revenge, following a bitterly contested divorce last year and a financial settlement agreed just a few weeks ago.
Janet Street-Porter admits to a secret fascination for Mr Stunt
Stunt is rumoured to have signed a £16 million pre-nuptual agreement, and during the divorce proceeding was forced to leave the £100 million family home in Chelsea.
Now he’s in a humble £12 million pad down the road in Belgravia.
Bernie has opted for dignity in the face of slander, announcing ‘I feel sorry for him (James)…drugs changed him. I am a little bit shorter than the average person, so if he wants to call me a dwarf, that’s alright’.
I doubt that’s the end of the matter – Bernie has implied that his ex wife and daughter might well seek legal action to silence further rantings from Mr Stunt.
Tamara and her sister Petra are not the brightest spanners in the toolbox. They are gorgeous sirens, who have opted for maximum makeup at all times, with heavily accented eyebrows and long carefully arranged tresses.
Human barbie dolls – they both look older than their years (Petra is 29 and Tamara 33).
I’ve interviewed Tamara several times and it’s clear she’s a sweet person who leads a highly sheltered life, trusting few people, surrounded by bodyguards in her fortified palace.
During Petra’s divorce, Tamara posted a series of supportive messages on Instagram for her sister- ‘Hey little fighter, soon things will be brighter’.
Don’t you find it creepy that these mega-rich siblings disclose their intimate family business through social media? They naively think that the whole world should care about their happiness.
They lead cloistered lives, not unlike the nuns of the 16th century – don’t drink, go to parties or eat trash.
Their lives revolve around their children, Tamara regularly posts pictures on Instagram breast feeding Sophia her three year old daughter.
They imagine their wealth and gilded lives make them socially relevant. It’s distressing, but they have a point- millions of young women follow their every move and regard them as role models, something to aspire to.
That’s the tragedy, not the inane ramblings of James Stunt.
Tamara and Petra are living proof that money doesn’t buy you brains or taste – in their own way, they are just as crass and vulgar as James, with nail bars in their homes, marble baths and glittering chandeliers, gold and marble adorning every surface, with butlers, chefs and dog walkers and parties for their kids that cost more than the average annual wage.
And they did nothing to deserve this money except be born to a rich dad – in many respects they aren’t very different from the Princes Harry and William. Luck is having the right blood line, not the right brains.
Taste isn’t a given – Tamara’s flashy Christmas decorations outside her house in Chelsea last Christmas were little different from those on a council estate in the deprived North of England – perhaps that’s why so many people follow these sisters.
Art dealer James Stunt embarks upon another summer spending spree with his entourage and cavalcade of cars in Bond Street, London
James has spun loads of entertaining stories about placing huge bets, buying old Master paintings, making a fortune from shipping and investing in property. He is probably quite a nice person who has lost his way.
Like the stars of Towie and Made in Chelsea, James believes in flaunting your wealth, at the same time as telling anyone who’ll listen how ‘ordinary’ he is.
He claims to have 25 bodyguards, 200 valuable high performance cars…and was the victim of a recent robbery, a raid which (he claims) saw him relieved of diamonds, rare watches and gold bullion worth between US$60 and $90 million.
Where were all those security men? Perhaps they were parking the fleet of cars. I can’t help admiring James for his chutzpah, but I’m bloody glad I wasn’t married to him.
I made that mistake a few years ago with husband number four – I met the flashy bastard at a party one November, took him on holiday to Jamaica for Christmas.
All the other house guests hated him. When they left, the bloke and I drove across America and married at 3am in Las Vegas.
Two days later I was in Los Angeles having dinner with Helmut Newton – when he asked who the man was, I said ‘a mistake’. A year later we were divorced.
Flashy blokes are appealing – been there, done that.