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Weekly
Media Feature - (12/24/2000) |
Charlotte
& Chelsea Clinton talking it up in DC
From: THE SUN (UK) BY
Sue Evison
TEENAGE
singing star Charlotte Church has confessed who she would most like
to snog - hunky actors Wes Bentley from American Beauty, Gladiator
star Joaquin Phoenix and Taylor Hanson, from boyband Hanson.
The 14-year-old voice of
an angel made her admission to Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea.
Top
hunk ... Charlotte loves Gladiator actor
Joaquin
Welsh schoolgirl
Charlotte traded secrets with Chelsea, 19, after America's outgoing
president Bill Clinton invited her to switch on the White House
Christmas lights last week.
Charlotte said: “I’m
a teenage girl, just like any other and we talk boys, boys, boys. I
have my dream guys like anyone else...the ones I’d most like to
snog are Wes, Joaquin and Taylor Hanson. If
I had to pick just one I guess it would be Joaquin Phoenix. But no,
I don’t have his picture on my bedroom wall. My room is done in
Oriental style and a poster would look out of place."
Dream
date ... Taylor from Hanson
"I’m not even
sure that I’m ready to date yet, anyway. I’m a kind of agony
aunt for my friends. Some have boyfriends and they have boyfriend
problems — splitting up, arguing, that kind of thing.
It all
sounds like a lot of hassle to me and puts me off having a boyfriend
of my own at the moment."
You
beauty ... film star Wes
Welsh schoolgirl
Charlotte found Chelsea the ideal confidante.
She says: “She was
really cool. We
talked music and clothes and boys. I like Bill and his wife Hillary
but Chelsea’s the best. She’s like me — just normal.”
United
... Charlotte and mum Maria
Charlotte opened her
heart after a legal battle with her former manager that left her
wanting to quit music altogether, believing it would save her mother
from cruel public humiliation.
The teenager was
devastated when Jonathan Shalit branded mum Maria a “greedy money
grabber” during a bitter court dispute last month.
He was
demanding a £5million slice of Charlotte’s fortune after being
dumped as her manager. Charlotte
is one of British music’s top earners, with a reputed £15million
fortune and sales ahead of stars such as Christina Aguilera and
Ricky Martin.
Her new classical album,
Dream A Dream, has shot to No7 in America, making Charlotte the
youngest British artist to have a Top Ten LP in America.
The
sensational trial led to Cardiff-born Maria being branded a “Welsh
dragon” and sneered at in the street.
Charlotte
says: “My mum is a very strong person and held her head high in
public. But
behind closed doors it was a different story. She was in despair. It
is the first time I’ve ever seen her sobbing. You can imagine what
that’s like — seeing your mum cry and thinking you are to blame,
hearing people call your mum terrible names and knowing it is not
true. It
was difficult for me but terrible for her. People would point at us
and say, ‘That’s Maria Church, the greedy mum.’
I saw how much it hurt my mum. I saw her in pain and crying because
of what was being said about her. And
I felt it was really my fault, that it was because of my career that
this was happening and that my mum was being made a victim of my
success. I
struggled with that. I wanted to walk away from everything, to quit.
I didn’t feel anything in the world was worth watching my mum
being hurt like that. It
was Mum who persuaded me not to. She said all that mattered was that
our family and friends knew the truth — and she could hold her
head high. We’re very close. We discussed it as a family. In a
way, it gave us more strength, made us pull together to protect each
other.”
The family received many
letters of support and pals rallied round.
Charlotte, who agreed to
a £2million out-of-court settlement with Shalit, says: “It was
helpful to my mum to know the whole world wasn’t sitting out there
thinking the worst of her. We
had a lot of nice letters and phone calls, even from H from Steps,
who was really kind.My
mum is the best mum in the world — I mean, I’m a teenager and I
can still say that! I love her to bits. She’s kind and funny and
warm and wise. She has always looked out for me, always been there
when I’ve needed somewhere to turn. She has never let me down.
I know she
loves me too and that all she wants in life is for me to be happy
and not get hurt.
And she’s always given me good advice. It was ME who decided I no
longer wanted Jonathan Shalit as a manager, not my mum. It was my
mum who cautioned me against dismissing him, my mum who said, ‘Charlotte,
think about the consequences.’ It was my decision, mine alone. And
then my mum is the one who suffers for it...well, that hurts.”
The youngster says that
although she had idols, she does not want to rush into dating boys.
She says: “My parents
aren’t bothered if I date but it’s difficult for me, being me. I’ll
go to a party with my friends back home in Wales and the boys will
either be very forward, trying to prove they aren’t overawed, or
they will ignore me altogether.
“I do worry that it
will be hard for me to date anyone. I don’t want to say I will
only go out with someone famous because that is not the way I am.
“But I am aware that it is important to know why someone is with
you and what for — that they are there for you and you alone, not
for any other reason."
Charlotte may have
earned millions but she gets just £60 pocket money each month. The
rest is held in trust until she is 21. She
says: “People always think, ‘What could you buy a girl like
Charlotte?’ Well, let me tell you! I
really want a Tommy Hilfiger jumper for Christmas, shoes, make-up,
accessories or jewellery. I don’t dress from head to toe in
designer gear. “My
£60-a-month has to cover everything I want to buy, from sweets to
clothes to make-up. When
I’m at home in Wales I’m just like any other teenage girl. I
walk around the streets unrecognised most of the time because I push
back my trademark fringe and wear my glasses. I
hang out with my two best friends, Kim and Jo, and we’ll spend our
Saturdays trawling the High Street shops in Cardiff.
We go to Miss Selfridge, Top Shop, Virgin Records — mostly before
going to our favourite cafe for a coffee and chocolate muffin.
And then we
gossip — boys, of course — or go back to one of our homes to
chill and play records. I
do get to experience normal, teenage girl kind of life there. But I
know I will never know what it is like to be Charlotte Church, aged
14, who nobody has ever heard of. I don’t get lonely. I’m
always surrounded by adults. I have two tutors who travel with me
everywhere and then there are promotions people, public relations
people, record company people. And
I’m lucky to have my family — Mum and my dad James travel with
me everywhere.”
Charlotte, who has just
bought a new five-bedroom home in Wales, will spend Christmas with
her family.
She says: “My aunts,
uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and nana will all come up to the
house for a traditional turkey dinner. "Then
we’ll probably go down the pub owned by my Uncle Paul and have our
usual sing-song. A lot of my family are professional singers.
Charlotte,
who is to play a charity concert in aid of underprivileged children
with Whitney Houston, rap star Wyclef Jean and Eric Clapton in the
New Year, has met some of the world’s most influential people.
She has also
been introduced to top pop stars, including Robbie Williams, Britney
Spears, Madonna and Steps. She
was even asked by Sting if she would be interested in collaborating
for a disc.
But she adds: “If I
could have a wish come true for Christmas it would be a simple one
... to be left alone in my house for a week. But I know that won’t
come true because my mum won’t let it. She says she trusts me —
but not the others that I might invite round! You
see, she’s just a normal mum really.”
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