HAD it been just another celebrity’s home in Fulham which was broken into by a masked intruder last month, the ripples would barely have stretched beyond the leafy environs that London’s Sloane Rangers have made their own. Since the house belonged to Jemima Khan, however, it was inevitable that the shocks of the break-in would be felt 4,000 miles away in Pakistan, where her cricketer-turned-politician husband, Imran, was campaigning in the run-up to national elections.
Scotland Yard speedily denied political motivation behind the incident, but as Jemima barricaded herself behind a door with her two young sons, Suleiman, five, and Kasim, three, she may have reflected on a host of sinister possibilities. She has had scares in the past. In 1996, a bomb blast at Imran’s cancer hospital in Lahore killed eight and injured 30.
"There’s no doubt that there are people in Pakistan who can travel to England easily, for whom Jemima represents everything they despise: A glamorous Western woman who goes about with her face uncovered and has some liberal views about women which they find unacceptable," says a woman who knows the couple. "She would be an obvious target for them over there, but who knows if they’d come all the way here to have a go at her."
In 1995, her marriage to Imran Khan, cricket’s greatest icon, generated a chorus of disapproval and predictions of doom. Until then, she had spent her adult life, apart from a short time at Bristol University, being occasionally mentioned in gossip columns and enjoying a superficial existence as part of a King’s Road set of the super-rich.
Her identity seemed shaped by who her father was — the late billionaire buccaneer Sir James Goldsmith, founder of the Referendum Party who threw more than 20 million pounds of his own money into its campaign against the euro in 1997.
The wedding of a 21-year-old socialite to a cricket hero twice her age seemed unlikely. But having discovered what she described as "the universal and eternal truth that is Islam," the sylph-like Jemima converted and took the name Haiqa Khan. It was not enough to silence her detractors.
What the marriage did was prefigure a political role for Jemima on two continents, as a supporter of her husband and her family’s campaigns. Her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, follows in Sir Jimmy’s steps as president of the Democracy Movement. Her younger brother Zac, editor of The Ecologist magazine, is an impassioned environmentalist.
Within two years of their marriage, Imran had founded Tehreek-i-Insaf, the Movement for Justice, a party whose avowed objective is to clean up Pakistani politics. That means making enemies in a country where upsetting the wrong person can lead to serious trouble and, in extremis, death. Some wonder whether Imran’s politicking might have provoked the intimidating break-in at the Khans’ London home. Last month, his party called on the British government to launch a full inquiry into the incident, citing fears over "the motives of the attack."
"Imran is seen as one of the king’s men, part of the establishment, who enjoys a good rapport with President Musharraf," says a national newspaper editor in Islamabad. "But in the last few weeks he’s come out strongly against the constitutional amendments proposed by Musharraf which would give the president increased powers. You never know in Pakistani politics. Anything can happen."
Jemima’s approach to her life in Pakistan seems to have changed noticeably in the past few months. At first she appeared to have swapped a life as Jemima the daughter for Jemima the dutiful spouse. While Imran set his sights on political office, Jemima embarked on a series of charitable roles which led some observers to see her as the new Princess Diana. In September last year she became a special representative for UNICEF, championing the cause of Afghan refugees, in addition to her work on behalf of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital founded by Imran in Lahore. In the wake of Sept. 11, she closed her eponymous fashion label, based in Pakistan, the profits of which went to Imran’s cancer appeal.
"When I heard she was marrying the most eligible bachelor in Pakistan and going out to live with him there I thought it would be a complete disaster," admits a British woman who worked in Pakistan in her twenties. "It’s incredibly difficult to fit in as a Westerner. I’m impressed by what she’s done. She’s tried hard to adapt, she’s learned Urdu and won over lots of people who were hostile."
Now the low profile appears to be discarded. She has assumed a role as unofficial head of the Movement for Justice’s women’s wing, promoting education and helping mobilize the vote in rural areas. Rashid Khan, a banker friend of the couple, says she will be a definite asset during the forthcoming election campaign. "Pakistanis are fascinated by her," he says. "They don’t know her because she’s kept under wraps, but when she has appeared in public the people have been enraptured."
Unlike many high-rolling Pakistani politicians, the Khans enjoy a modest standard of living. Friends who visited their old home in Lahore were astonished by the domestic arrangements. "I was surprised by how humble it was," says one. "You see all these Pakistani politicians living in their swish mansions, and this one was different." The couple have since relocated to Islamabad where Imran pursues his political career.
Every summer, as temperatures soar to over 40 degrees, Jemima returns to London, a welcome escape from the power-cuts, water shortages and sicknesses of which she has complained. The time the couple spend apart has prompted speculation that marital tensions are taking their toll, but in the age of travel she is the consummate global citizen, making an effortless segue from Haiqa the politician’s wife to Jemima the Western girl. Her London pals include Liz Hurley, Hugh Grant and Elle MacPherson.
"Say what you like about Jemima, she’s infinitely adaptable," says a habitué of the society bashes into which she sashays. "One minute she’s rubbing shoulders with Joan Collins, the next she’s talking foreign affairs and writing in The Guardian about the Jewish lobby in the US."
The furnace of a Pakistani summer may be behind her in London but politics simmers on. Apart from voicing her views on the Palestinians, the war in Afghanistan and the "overwhelming Jewish influence in US politics and the media", Jemima returns to the family fold to lend some much-needed pizzazz to its anti-euro Democracy Movement. "When the referendum comes she’ll be a force for good because she’ll bring on board a heady whiff of glamour," says a prominent anti-euro campaigner. "We don’t want the No campaign to be dominated by people like Bill Cash. It’s going to be more inclusive than that. Jemima’s just the ticket."
With Imran running for Parliament and the euro referendum approaching, Jemima will soon be dividing time between two campaign trails. Whatever the explanation for the Fulham break-in, the resilient Mrs. Khan is likely to improve the security and simply put it down to experience. Being a billionaire’s daughter and the wife of a Third World politician, you see, is all a bit of an adventure. (The Independent)
<15 August 2002>
