Eric Clapton's girl hires dad to sing at her wedding for 150 guests - Daily Mail
By Richard Kay
Last updated at 1:26 AM on 14th September 2011
She was once labelled superstar Eric Claptons secret daughter, but like all brides on their wedding day, Ruth Clapton had one or two surprises of her own.
The first was not just that her rock star father gave her away at the intimate ceremony, but that she had also engaged him as her wedding singer.
For around an hour, Clapton, 66, entertained the 150 guests with his band on a stage erected in a marquee in the grounds of his Surrey mansion.
Married: Eric Clapton's daughter Ruth Patricia Clapton and her fiance Dean Bartlett arrive at their wedding at St Mary Magdalen Church in Ripley
It was a fitting tribute from the musician whose songs are some of the most frequently requested at wedding parties.
And Vidal Sassoon-trained hairdresser Ruth also had a further surprise for her new husband. She, too, got up on stage to sing, but not one of her fathers famous numbers.
Ruth sang Use Somebody, by TheKings of Leon, as her special surprise for Dean, with Clapton backing her, says a friend of the couple. Shes got a good voice and has sung with her father before.
Father of the bride: Eric sang at his daughter's wedding
Ruth, 26, Claptons daughter from a year-long romance with former record studio boss Yve Kelly, was marrying her love of the past three years, DeanBartlett, an aspiring architect studying at Leeds University.
The marriage was held at the church of St Mary Magdalen in Ripley, near the home Clapton shares with his second wife, Melia McEnery, and their three daughters, Julie, Ella and Sophie, who acted as flower girls.
Eric, who lost a son, Conor (by Italian photographer Lory Del Santo), in a tragic accident when he fell from the 53rd floor of a New York skyscraper in 1991, met Ruths mother when she was working for Beatles producer Sir George Martin on the island of Montserrat in the Eighties.She was managing director of Sir Georges Air Studios on the island.
Although Clapton was married to George Harrisons ex-wife, model Patti Boyd, and battling alcoholism at the time, and didnt see his daughter for two years, he later insisted Ruth should change her surname to Clapton when she was aged six.
Hesubsequently played a large part in her upbringing, seeing her most weekends, making a nonsense of claims that she was his secret love child.
Last night, the newlyweds were on honeymoon, cruising aboard Claptons yacht in the Adriatic. Says another guest: It was a delightful family wedding and with Clapton playing at the reception, you couldnt have found a better wedding singer anywhere in the world.
Chelsy goes legally blonde
Law and order: Chelsy Davy wears a strained expression on her way to work
Party girl Chelsy Davy put on her serious face yesterday as she clocked on for work at a law firm where she has been hired as a trainee solicitor.
After postponing her attachment with snooty City lawyers Allen & Overy, there was speculation that following her break-up with Prince Harry, Chelsy might not take up her placement.
But walking to her office, demurely dressed in grey skirt, black jacket and flat pumps, it was clear she is embracing her new position.
Her strained expression, however, suggests the lifestyle of a working woman requires a stricter discipline to that of the whirlwind of cocktail parties and exotic holidays to which she has become accustomed.
Chelsy may be Prince Harrys ex, but there is no special treatment here, says an insider at the firm where she is being paid 38,000 a year to learn the ropes as a corporate lawyer.
Expectations are high and she is treated just like any of the other trainees.
'She will have to go through the usual rotation of seats in different departments, and if she makes an error a pretty smile wont cut it.
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Oxfords Duke of Cambridge cocktail bar, where David Cameron, Boris Johnson and George Osborne drank as students, is to auction a portrait of Prince William, who acquired the dukedom when he wed Kate Middleton.
A copy of the portrait will hang outside thebar while the original will be sold to raise money for one of the Royalcouples favourite charities. ArtistTom Croft says of his painting: We feel he [Prince William] looks as if he is considering weighty matters, such as whether to have champagne or a gin andtonic ...
Elton's date stands him up
Auction action: Elton John's 'date' Spencer Lodge failed to turn up
Its always tricky at an auction.You scratch your nose and youve accidentally bought a Picasso. In this case, pint-sized ladies man Spencer Lodge bought himself a date with Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish for 700,000 at the couples famous White Tie and Tiara Ball.
According to Sir Eltons Aids Foundation, the three men would be visiting some of the singers charitable projects.
But the date never happened because Mr Lodge, a financial adviser, failed to stump up the money, it is claimed. Now, after numerous requests asking him to honour his auction bid, Elton has issued a writ.
The High Court claim alleges that Spencer attended last summers ball and made the winning bid for lot three of theauction, signing the paperwork confirming theprice, but no money has been forthcoming.
What of 5ft 4in tall Lodge,frequently spotted at F1 Grands Prix where, I am told, he likes to be surrounded by 6ft tall blondes? Says his solicitor Keith Pearlman: He will be vigorously defending this action.
It's a rap for Victoria
Celebrating: Victoria Aitken's song Weekend Lover is being used on the Damsels in Distress soundtrack
Her burgeoning pop career has already brought her six successive hits in the UK dance charts.
But last night Victoria Aitken was celebrating another first after her song, Weekend Lover, was used on the soundtrack of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Whit Stillmans latest movie Damsels In Distress.
Rap artist Victoria, lively daughter of former Tory jailbird Jonathan Aitken, was in Toronto for the premiere of the film which stars Adam Brody.
Her song has been a Top-20 hit in the dance charts and a thrilled Victoria tells me from Canada: Ive been a damsel in distress many times and it is what Weekend Lover is all about.
It is not the first time Victoria, 30, who divides her time between London and New York, has been a hit at a film festival.
In June she was in Cannes where she shot a music video and secured her first major record deal.
Comedienne Jenny Eclair, whobraved bugs and spiders in the Australian jungle for TVs Im A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, encountered a different hazard in herfirst foray into the gentler world of panto in leafy Richmond.
Prince Charmings breeches ripped right across the front, saidEclair, 51, after a photocall for Cinderella. Elliot Harper, 28, victim of thewardrobe malfunction, admitted: Yes, it was a revealing experience. My trouserswere too tight and split when I went down on one knee to Cinderella on the steps of Richmond Theatre in front of a few drunks on The Green.
Actor Colin Firth, who won an Oscar for playing George VI in The Kings Speech, admits he has a few qualms about meeting the Queen when he goes to Buckingham Palace to collect his CBE for services to drama in a few weeks time.
I have no idea what Im going to say, he tells me, but I am assured it will not be a long conversation. I think you can take it that Her Majesty will not be saying: Well done on playing my Dad.
Adds Firth: I dont know if shes even seen the film, though a few younger members of the Royal Family have and quite enjoyed it.
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