Keira Knightley has starred in blockbuster films ranging from Pirates Of The Caribbean to Pride & Prejudice.
Yet none has created the mystery sparked by a small, but perhaps significant, change she has quietly made in her business affairs.
I can reveal that Keira has, for whatever reason, dropped the surname of her husband, James Righton, from official documents. The couple have not been pictured together since they attended Wimbledon last July.
The Hollywood star, 40, had named herself as Keira Christina Righton. However, last Friday her name was changed to Keira Christine Knightley at Companies House, using ‘new details’ provided by the actress.
The changes relate to her performing arts company KCK Boo Ltd, which had more than £11million of assets at the time of its latest accounts.
She had started using the surname for official purposes in 2021 after much soul-searching.
In 2014 she talked about adopting her husband’s name, saying: ‘I went to do the passport thing ‘cos I was thinking, ‘Shall I do it? It will be helpful’.
But you actually have to see it written down, and I found I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go there. Yet.’ Keira exchanged vows with Righton, 42, former vocalist of pop band Klaxons, in France in 2013. They went on to have two daughters, Edie, ten, and Delilah, six. On the couple’s tenth wedding anniversary, Keira joked on The Drew Barrymore Show that it was ‘a miracle to have made it this far’.
The actress, who was born in the south-west London suburb Teddington, has been keen to keep her feet on the ground, telling an interviewer in 2014 that she gave herself a yearly salary of £30,000 to stop her losing touch with her less affluent friends.
Keira exchanged vows with Righton, 42, former vocalist with indie band Klaxons, in France in 2013
‘Living an [expensive] lifestyle means you can’t hang out with people who don’t live that lifestyle. It alienates you,’ she said. ‘Some of my best, most hilarious times, have been in the least luxurious places.’ Keira could not be reached for comment.
Sandringham safari, anyone?
Fancy seeing the lesser-spotted Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at Sandringham?
King Charles’s private estate in Norfolk, where he’s providing accommodation and servants for the friend of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has introduced £160-a-head Land Rover tours where visitors will ‘experience a side of Sandringham rarely seen’.
The advert says: ‘Imagine exploring the Royal Sandringham Estate this winter from the seat of a classic Defender. Join us for an intimate, 2.5-hour tour through the Estate’s stunning landscapes.’
Bea’s stepson celebrates China new year with mum
Princess Beatrice is suffering as the tawdry revelations keep coming about her father Andrew’s friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Happily, her nine-year old stepson is having an idyllic childhood. Christopher, who’s known as ‘Wolfie’ and is the son of Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, has been celebrating Chinese new year with his mother, the architect and TV presenter Dara Huang.
‘2026 is going to be a great year indeed,’ says Dara, 42, who wore a traditional red chinese dress as they dined at Cha Wui restaurant at Harrods in London.
‘It’s the year of the horse. Last year was the year of the snake and it was about shedding some of our old skin in order to prepare for this incredible year.’
Princess Beatrice is suffering as the tawdry revelations keep coming about her father Andrew’s friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Python Palin’s plight
Almost three years since the death of his wife Helen, Sir Michael Palin glumly admits he doesn’t receive as many visits to his north London home as he would like.
Asked who ‘calls into the house’ to see him, the Monty Python star, 82, awkwardly responds: ‘Erm, well that’s a good question,’ before mentioning ‘one or two friends’ and a Polish employee called Joanna who does his ironing once a week.
He then acknowledges: ‘Actually, coming to the house and sitting with you for a bit, that doesn’t happen perhaps as much as I would like it to.’
Isla Fisher, who divorced Ali G star Sacha Baron Cohen in 2024 after 14 years of marriage, celebrated her 50th birthday in London with close friends including Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, 44.
Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding was among those who presented the flame-haired Hollywood star with a two-tiered red velvet cake.
It featured white icing that read ‘Happy Beloved Isla Day’, adorned with candles, sparklers, palm trees and miniature plastic animals, including her English sheepdog Maisy, horses, and a kangaroo to symbolise her native Australia.
Isla Fisher, who divorced Ali G star Sacha Baron Cohen in 2024 after 14 years of marriage, celebrated her 50th birthday in London
Actor and comedian Tom Rosenthal, whose father is renowned sports commentator Jim Rosenthal, doesn’t understand the resentment against ‘nepo babies’ in showbusiness.
‘Nepotism is absolutely rife in the butchering industry, but nobody cares,’ jokes Tom, 38, who starred in the comedies Friday Night Dinner and Plebs.
‘You don’t go to a father/son butchers and go, ‘Oh, no, not for me… It’s places like this that are preventing access to the industry for the next generation of butchers.’
As a presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme, Emma Barnett grills politicians on a daily basis. In her private life, she’s fed up with men who take no interest in others. ‘Something similar has happened to me and two of my friends: We have had meetings with people who asked us no questions,’ she wails. ‘I am sorry to report that all three were with men, sitting across from women, failing to have any curiosity at all.’ Perhaps they couldn’t get a word in edgeways, Emma
