The Sunday Times May 22, 2022 V2 3
NEWS
If Liverpool win all “fab four” titles this
season, it will not just be a triumph for
Jürgen Klopp. Fans may also want to
thank the flamboyant manager’s wife,
Ulla Sandrock, for his decision to sign up
for another two years at the Premier
League club — and maybe even their
beloved mongrel, Emma.
Sandrock, 48, a fellow German who
became the second Mrs Klopp in 2005, is
far from the typical football Wag.
The former social worker spent three
years working with children in Kenya
before meeting Klopp, 54, while waitress-
ing at his favourite bar in the western city
of Mainz.
She has subsequently become an
author, writing two children’s books
about football, and endeared herself to
the locals in Formby, the affluent seaside
suburb where she and her husband have
a mansion, by handing out £1,000-worth
of £50 food vouchers to staff at their local
Waitrose as a “thank-you” for working
through the pandemic.
However, it is her affection for Mersey-
side, where Klopp arrived in 2015 to man-
age Liverpool, that has turned her into
the toast of Anfield. Under her husband’s
leadership, the team have won this year’s
FA Cup and League Cup, and could this
afternoon clinch the Premier League if
they beat Wolves. That leaves the small
matter of next Saturday’s Champions
League final against Real Madrid — if Liv-
erpool come out on top they would
become the first Premier League club to
win all four in one season.
“Ulla might even love Liverpool more
than Jürgen, if that’s possible,” said a
source at the club.
Klopp, who is an evangelical Christian,
revealed Sandrock’s influence on his
decision to extend his contract in a video
posted last month on Liverpool’s official
Twitter account. “I stay for another two
years... ‘Why’ is now the question.
Because Ulla wants to stay. As a good hus-
band, what are you doing when your wife
wants to stay? You stay. That’s not the
only reason, but it’s one of the reasons.”
Fans have responded with approving
chants from the Kop. “I’m so glad that
Ulla loves Scouse / I’m so glad that she’s
not moving house,” goes one, adding
with a typical Beatles reference: “Ulla
said to Jurg you know / she doesn’t want
to leave you know / I’m in love with her
and I feel fine.”
Klopp’s decision may also have been
influenced by concern for the wellbeing
of Emma, the retriever cross the couple
take for walks along the beach in Formby,
which is home to a number of northwest
England’s top footballers.
Its golden sands are reminiscent of
Sylt, an upmarket island off Germany’s
North Sea coast, where the Klopps have a
holiday home. It was here seven years
ago that Sandrock showed her true grit,
that he has the best judgment of any man-
ager alive.”
Sandrock’s gift to Waitrose staff also
went down well. “This was an incredible
thing to do,” one member of staff told the
Liverpool Echo. “Ulla didn’t want to
make a fuss, or receive any recognition,
and just wanted people working in shops
to get the recognition they deserve.”
She is also said to be a “big fan” of the
local fashion sense. The former Big
Brother contestant Rebeckah Vaughan
bumped into Sandrock while shopping.
“She had a lovely poncho so we dis-
cussed Scouse fashion,” Vaughan told the
local paper. “She said all the ladies here
are very glamorous. She was so friendly.”
Life’s no ball for the Wags,
News Review, page 20
Up for grabs, Sportallow Harry to give his
account of attending the
celebrations with Meghan
and their children, the first
time the Sussexes will have
been reunited with the royal
family for two years.
Speaking about his book
last year, Harry said: “My
hope is that in telling my
story — the highs and lows,
the mistakes, the lessons
learnt — I can help show that
no matter where we come
from, we have more in
common than we think.”
@RoyaNikkhahmultimillion-pound advance
for the memoir, which he is
rumoured to be working on
with the American
ghostwriter JR Moehringer,
who collaborated on Andre
Agassi’s autobiography. The
prince is to donate the
“proceeds” to charity.
A delayed publication date
might come as a relief to the
royal family and courtiers,
following the Sussexes’
soul-baring interview with
Oprah Winfrey. It would also
avoid overshadowing the
Platinum Jubilee year andChelsea show still digs harmful peat
It is hotly anticipated, with
many in royal circles braced
for the day it hits the shops.
But exactly when the Duke of
Sussex will publish his
“intimate and heartfelt
memoir” is a mystery.
Billed as “an inspiring,
courageous and uplifting
human story” — with Prince
Harry writing “not as the
prince I was born but as the
man I have become” — the
book was announced with
fanfare by Penguin RandomThe mystery of Harry’s missing memoir
House last year, with
“publication tentatively
scheduled for late 2022”.
Last week the publisher
said it did not yet have a
publication date. An
approach to Harry’s
spokeswoman elicited a
similar response.
It is understood that the
Sussexes recently parted
company with their global
press secretary, Toya
Holness, who was appointed
in March 2021.
Harry, 37, is reported
to have received aof science at the RHS, said: “A Alistair Griffiths, director Roya Nikkhah
large proportion of plants in
the UK start off as a very small
plug imported”. These are
often grown in peat. Many
growers say they have yet to
find adequate alternatives.
Stella Exley, of Hare Spring
Cottage Plants, who is showing
camassias in the great
pavilion, grows her plants in
worm compost. “Going peat-
free is a challenge, and costs
double. But it is possible.”
Liz Edwards, page 27Chelsea tomorrow but will
decide on the day. It opens to
the public on Tuesday.
Craig Bennett, head of
the Wildlife Trusts, said:
“Peat belongs in bogs not
bags. It is extraordinary that
the use of peat in horticulture
is still permitted.” Peat bogs
store more carbon than all
the world’s forests. When
they are dug up the gases are
released. In 2020, nearly
900,000 cubic metres of peat
were extracted from UK soils,
with 1.4 million imported, the
Wildlife Trusts said.All the show gardens at the
Chelsea Flower Show will use
peat compost despite
decades of warnings about
the damage digging it up does
to habitats and the climate.
The Royal Horticultural
Society (RHS), which runs the
show, confirmed that none of
the 39 flagship show gardens
was “100 per cent peat free”.
Even those that have no
peat on site use plants that
have been propagated in or
grown on in peat, or have
transported trees with their
roots packed in peat.
The government is to ban
the sale of peat to gardeners
by 2024 and to the
horticultural industry by- The industry vowed to
phase out bagged peat by
2020 but 30 per cent of
compost sold in garden
centres last year was peat-
based. Professional use was
higher, the Horticultural
Trades Association said. The
RHS aims to eradicate peat
from its shows by 2025.
The Queen hopes to go to
Ben Spencer Science Editor
David Collins and Peter Conradi
Social worker, children’s
author — meet Klopp’s rock
As Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool eye a record
four titles, fans know his wife is to thank for
keeping him on her beloved Merseyside
when Emma almost swallowed a stinging
jellyfish while swimming.
Sandrock swiftly reached into the
dog’s throat and pulled it out, according
to Stephanie Petersen, a local vet who
revealed the incident in a recent James
Herriot-style book about her work with
animals on the island.
“Jürgen pulled out a brown dog poop
bag and emptied an entire jellyfish, blue
and wobbly, onto my table, followed by
about half a kilo of sand,” Petersen wrote.
“Ulla told me that she bravely reached
into the dog’s throat to pull the jellyfish
out by the tentacles.”
Sandrock’s swift thinking undoubt-
edly saved her dog’s life, although her
long fingernails may have scratched
Emma’s throat.
Petersen subsequently got to know the
couple and they have stayed in touch. “I
receive a WhatsApp from Liverpool from
time to time, for example when Emma
celebrated her 12th birthday,” she told a
German newspaper.
Klopp had already divorced his first
wife, Sabine, when he met Sandrock in
the bar in Mainz where he used to drink
with friends. Known as Kloppo to Ger-
man fans, he was a famous face in the
city: after a decade as a player, he had
gone on to far greater success as a man-
ager, leading Mainz 05 into the Bundes-
liga, the top tier of German football. San-
drock knew nothing about the sport and
didn’t recognise him.
The couple’s wedding in Mainz was a
modest affair: 50 or so close family and
friends attended the town hall cere-
mony on a Monday afternoon.
Klopp and his bride then each
released a dove in front of a local
Catholic church — one white and
the other black. They had to wait
another few weeks before setting
off on honeymoon as Mainz 05 still
had three games to play before the
winter break.
Each had a son from a previous
marriage: her son was called Den-
nis; his son, Marc, now 33, went on
to become a professional footballer
until he had to retire due to injury.
Sandrock soon immersed herself in
the sport. Months before the wedding,
she published a short children’s book,
Elli and Pit, or Who is the goalkeeper of
Mainz 05? about a nine-year-old girl and
ten-year-old boy who vie to play in goal
for the club’s youth team.
Three years later, under the name Ulla
Klopp, she published Tom and the Magic
Football, about an 11-year-old boy. “It’s
like Harry Potter but about football,”
explained Klopp. “There’s no flying on
his f***ing stick.”
His wife said the book illustrated the
“fascination of football” and “the longing
for a distant hero world”.
Sandrock has been publicly suppor-
tive of her husband’s career. In 2019 she
was photographed in a crowd standingon a bin waving her arms as a red bus car-
rying the team drove through Liverpool
during a victory parade for their Champi-
ons League win.
The Klopps endeared themselves to
Liverpool fans with trips out on the town,
especially to the bars and restaurants of
Hardman Street, where they have been
seen enjoying pints of Stella.
Sightings of the pair sparked excite-
ment on social media. “Klopp out drink-
ing in town on his first Friday is boss
enough ... then you find out it was on
Hardman Street and you get excited,”
said one fan. Another, Phil McCann,
wrote: “Klopp goes drinking on Hard-
man Street, proving beyond all doubtNever walkies alone: Ulla
Sandrock with her husband,
Jürgen Klopp, and EmmaACTION PRESS/SHUTTERSTOCKNo one will
shell out
£30 for
a scallop
At a Michelin-starred fish
restaurant where the tasting
menu is £75 per person, one
would expect the chef would
be able to take their pick of
premium seafood.
Not so, says Tom Brown,
the owner of Cornerstone,
who recently removed
scallops, monkfish, hake,
John Dory and cod from
menus because of spiralling
costs.
Brown, 34, who regularly
appears on the BBC television
show Great British Menu, has
removed one of his signature
starters — a £19 single extra-
large scallop with peanut,
chilli and lime — because a
sharp rise in costs meant he
would have had to increase
the price to £30 at his east
London restaurant.
The restaurant has also
swapped his £18 mackerel
pâté, cider and treacle bread
for mussel pâté because he
said mackerel prices had
reached a ceiling where
guests were unwilling to pay
more for what is perceived as
a cheap fish.
Brown said the price for
hake, which is used for a £
fish kiev dish, had risen from
£8.95-£9.95 a kilo last year to
£12.95 and would likely be
replaced with pollock.
The menu changes at
Cornerstone are emblematic
of a much wider issue. The
price of diesel, used by
fishing vessels, hit record
highs last week and the war in
Ukraine has impacted
seafood supplies because
between 40 per cent and
45 per cent of global whitefish
is sourced from Russia.
Brown said: “I never
begrudge the prices going up
because I think the fishermen
in this country are underpaid
for doing an incredibly hard,
dangerous job, but the knock-
on effect of energy prices
going up and the conflict in
Ukraine is that prices are
going through the roof.”
At L’Enclume in Cartmel,
Cumbria, which was awarded
its third Michelin star in
February, the price of a
15-course tasting menu has
jumped from £195 to £250.
Beyond upmarket
restaurants, the National
Federation of Fish Friers has
warned that up to a third of
chippies across Britain could
be forced to shut down
because of the rising cost of
cod, haddock, potatoes and
sunflower oil since Russia’s
invasion. Further plans to put
a tariff on imports of Russian
whitefish to the UK will put
more pressure on supplies.
@Louise_EcclesLouise Eccles
Consumer Affairs Editorshe will not be present for
most of the parade.
She has previously always
been present at Horse Guards
Parade for the duration of the
ceremony, either onQueen won’t receive Trooping the Colour salute for first time in 70 years
Plans are being drawn up for
members of the royal family
to replace the Queen at
Trooping the Colour for the
first time in her 70-year reign.
The Prince of Wales, the
Duke of Cambridge and the
Princess Royal are set to take
the royal salute during the
military display at Horse
Guards Parade, another sign
of the sovereign delegating
more duties.
It is hoped that the Queen,
96, who is experiencing
“episodic mobility
problems”, will attend part
of the ceremony, which is
being modified with her
comfort in mind, on June 2.
As well as marking her official
birthday, the parade will kick
off four days of national
celebrations for her Platinum
Jubilee.
This month, Charles, 73,
and Prince William, 39, stood
in for her at the state opening
of parliament, the first time
she had missed the event in
59 years.
One plan being considered
would see the Queen, who is
head of the armed forces,
travel in a carriage from
Buckingham Palace to briefly
inspect the troops, before
retiring for the rest of the
ceremony, with Charles,
William and Anne on
horseback representing her
at the parade ground. It is
hoped the monarch would
then later reappear at the
palace for the traditional
balcony moment with
members of the royal family.
In another plan, the Queen
will have even less
involvement, appearing only
on the balcony at the
ceremony’s conclusion. It is
understood that whichever
plan the Queen decides on,due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Queen has attended
Trooping the Colour to take
the royal salute every year of
her reign, except in 1955,
when it was cancelled due to
a rail strike.
The Duke and Duchess of
Sussex and their children,
Archie and Lilibet, will join
the Queen for her jubilee at
the parade and a service of
thanksgiving at St Paul’s
Cathedral on June 3.
Buckingham Palace has
confirmed they will not join
her on the palace balcony
after Trooping the Colour,
which “after careful
consideration” by the Queen
will only include royals
undertaking official duties.
The Queen also plans to
attend the service of
thanksgiving. Her presence at
jubilee celebrations will be
confirmed only on the day of
each event.lTwo people suffered
“significant” injuries
yesterday after viewing
stands partially collapsed on
Horse Guards Parade during
a Trooping the Colour
rehearsal. The accident
happened just before 11am as
people rose to sing the
national anthem.
The London Ambulance
Service said two people were
taken to hospital. Another
three people were treated at
the scene for minor injuries
with one of them later taken
to hospital as well.
One witness, Zoe Clark-
Coates, from Warwickshire,
said people were told to
remain on the stand until the
fire brigade arrived to begin
the evacuation.
The Metropolitan Police
said a multi-agency
investigation is under way to
establish what had gone
wrong.Roya Nikkhah Royal Editor
the Irish Guards and the
Blues and Royals. For the past
two years, the Queen has
been seated on a dais for
scaled-back half-hour
ceremonies at Windsor CastleCharles, William and Anne
at a 2014 Trooping. Charles
and Camilla, seen with the
EastEnders cast, appear
on the soap next monthhorseback or, in more recent
years, seated on a dais.
Charles, William and Anne,
71, will ride on the parade in
their roles as respective royal
colonels of the Welsh Guards,STUART C. WILSON/GETTY IMAGES; BBC