The Sunday Telegraph - 01.09.2019

The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 1 September 2019 *** 3

News

Bright lights on

Ellie in A-list

ceremony fit

for royalty

‘Bullies beat me until I bled’, reveals Penny

By Charles Hymas
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

PENNY LANCASTER, the model and
wife of Sir Rod Stewart, has revealed
that she was assaulted by school bullies
until she bled.
Ms Lancaster broke down in tears as
she recalled the bullying at her second-

ary school, which culminated in her

being pelted with eggs and flour by a

gang of girls on her last day.

In the most vicious attack, two girls

followed her home from school with a

boy who they spurred on to ram his

bike up the back of her legs until they

bled. “I ran home to my mum crying. I

thought I was strong enough to deal

with the bullies,” she said.

Ms Lancaster, right, is one of more

than 25 celebrities who have relived

their childhood torment at the hands of

bullies in videos to encourage today’s

pupils to speak out and seek help.

The campaign, launching tomorrow

by the charity The Diana Award

and backed by the Duke of Cam-

bridge, includes new data on

the vast scale of bullying that

pupils say is forcing them to

change school, skip lessons or

even contemplate suicide.

Figures show half of the

10 million children return-

ing to school this week will

be affected by bullying de-

spite efforts by head-

teachers to tackle the

problem.

Ms Lancaster, 48, a

mother of two sons with

Sir Rod, wells up in the video as

she looks at a picture of herself

starting out at her Essex sec-

ondary school.

“I didn’t think I was go-

ing to cry today, certainly not

as early as this,” she says.

“The bullying started with

just name-calling. I was dif-

ferent because I was taller

than not just the girls but the

boys – Penny long legs.”

She was also picked on be-

cause she wore her hair

scraped back neatly in a bundle

for her ballet. “A boy grabbed a

big chunk of my hair out of the neat

bun to make it scruffy and untidy,” she

said. “They used to come up and slap

me on the head and call me spam head.”

She countered the bullies by walk-

ing into school one day having written

the word “spam” on her forehead “as if

to say, I know you will stop now, and

they did.

“It seemed every time I was able to

be strong enough to stand up to them,

it did stop.”

Looking straight at the camera, she

discloses she suffers hyperhidrosis, a

condition where hands sweat profusely

under stress. She holds them up to

show that simply recalling the events

had caused an outbreak. “Just talking

about the bullying, my hands are drip-

ping right now. It is like I have just run

them under a tap,” she says

The Diana Award campaigns for

every school to have anti-bullying am-

bassadors, older pupils who can coun-

sel younger potential victims.

Ms Lancaster said: “If there was an

ambassador who had been through it

themselves, could comfort you and re-

assure you that it is something you can

get through if you talk about it and

share it, that would alleviate a lot of

pain. That would be wonderful.”

By Katie O’Neill

FROM the spectacle in York yesterday

afternoon, you would be forgiven for

thinking another royal wedding was

being celebrated.

But the nuptials drawing throngs of

royals and celebrities alike yesterday

were actually those of Ellie Goulding,

the pop singer, and her art-dealer fi-

ancé, Caspar Jopling, 27.

The bride, 32, arrived at the cathe-

dral in an electric blue Volkswagen

camper van wearing a high-neck Chloé

wedding gown adorned with pearl

beading and a train, which was de-

signed by Natacha Ramsay-Levi. She

wore her hair in a relaxed upstyle un-

derneath a long veil.

Her bridesmaids, who wore off-

white dresses and relaxed ponytails,

rearranged Goulding’s train before she

went inside.

The couple began dating in March

2017 after reportedly being introduced

by Princess Eugenie, who attended

alongside Princess Beatrice and Sarah,

Duchess of York. Jack Brooksbank,

Princess Eugenie’s husband, was a

groomsman.

The wedding was held in York Min-

ster, one of the largest Gothic cathe-

drals in Europe, which couples are

required to have a “present and de-

monstrable” connection to in order to

gain a licence to marry there.

A minster spokesman said the cou-

ple fulfilled the criteria but a spokes-

man for Goulding did not confirm

whether or not they have been regu-

larly attending.

Tearful model tells of her

school torment in video to

launch campaign to stamp

out attacks on pupils

MATT PORTEOUS/PA WIRE; DOUG PETERS/EMPICS; I-IMAGES

arity The Diana Award

d by the Duke of Cam-

ncludes new data on

cale of bullying that t

y is forcing them to

hool, skip lessons or

emplate suicide.

show half of the

children return-

ool this week will

d by bullying de-

orts by head-

to tackle the

ncaster, 48, a a

two sons with h

Sir Rod, wel

she looks at

stastarting ou

ondary

“I did

ing to cry

as early a

“The b

just nam

ferent b

than not

boys – Pe

She wa

cause she

scraped bac

for her balle

The bride, in a
gown by fashion
house Chloé,
and groom
share a kiss
following the
ceremony at
York Minster,
which was
attended by stars
including, from left,
Cressida Bonas,
Sienna Miller and
Katy Perry and
Orlando Bloom.
Goulding arrived
at the Gothic
cathedral in an
electric blue
Volkswagen
camper van

lowing the

remony at

rk Minster,

hich was

tended by stars

cluding, from left,

essida Bonas,

enna Miller and

ty Perry and

lando Bloom.

ulding arrived

the Gothic

thedral inan

ectric blue

lkswagen

mper van

CRESSIDA BONAS

SIENNA MILLER

KATY PERRY

ORLANDO BLOOM

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