LIFE’S ROSY
Rich list porn heiress India Rose James, 30, went from party girl burning £10 notes to £750m mum of rocker’s daughter
AT 21 years old, socialite India Rose James was richer than the Queen after inheriting a £329million fortune.
Young, free and heiress to a porn empire, she wasn’t shy about showing off her vast wealth, jet-setting around the world, partying until the small hours and even boasting about watching money burn.
9
9
But these days the 'Princess of Soho', now 32, is a reformed character, having curbed her wild ways to be a model mum to five-year-old daughter Saffi, who she shares with The Kooks' lead guitarist Hugh Harris.
Today it was revealed she's number four on the Sunday Times 40 under 40 rich list, with her and sister Fawn, 38, boasting a joint wealth of £750million.
That puts her way ahead of music icons Ed Sheeran and Adele, and boxing megastar Anthony Joshua.
Since rebranding her image, India has been keen to bring a "creative buzz" back to London with her art gallery in Soho. Here we take a look at her fascinating life.
READ MORE FEATURES
In 2008, India and half-sister Fawn (whose real dad was 10cc rocker Duncan Mackay) were left £329million by their late granddad Paul Raymond.
Paul, dubbed the King of Soho, built his fortune publishing pornography and owned a string of topless dancing clubs and nightclubs in Soho.
This grew into a vast property empire, with Paul acquiring freeholds on almost two-thirds of Soho’s properties including posh Soho House and nightclub The Box.
In 2013, at the age of 21, India became the youngest person to make the Sunday Times Rich List and was wealthier than the late Queen.
Most read in Celebrity
9
9
The sisters are the children of Debbie Raymond, who was expected to continue Paul’s legacy - but she tragically died in 1992 aged 36 after a drug and drink binge.
India was not afraid to show off her mega fortune. In 2013 she shared a photo of a £10 note being set alight by the flames coming off a shot glass.
A man is on track to be Britain's richest Apprentice winner after 'sacking' Lord Sugar
“Just saw £10 go up in flames… I could have used that to go home,” she wrote on Twitter alongside the snap.
In another tweet she boasted about splashing £180 on sweets, and on one occasion she told how she was “on Alex’s roof in Soho, looking down on the little people".
When it came to her property tycoon dad John James’ 60th birthday, she revealed she was competing with her sister to impress him.
She wrote: “So I have seven days to get my dad a better present then (sic) what my sister got him – she got him a Bentley.”
Whirlwind romance
9
On a night out in Mayfair, India met Kooks star Hugh Harris. They later snogged at Reading Festival in 2015, and three months later she was pregnant.
Hugh proposed to her with an emerald on the roof of the Cafe Royal, and they celebrated their engagement at London’s swanky members’ club Groucho in 2016.
Their daughter, Sapphire – known as Saffi – was born in posh Portland Hospital, where Meghan Markle gave birth to son Archie.
The couple never married and are no longer together, having split on reasonable terms “to a degree", according to India.
It was reported last year that she was dating American musician Daniel Vildósola, with a source telling the : "They’ve been together a while now and things are going really well."
Becoming a mum seems to have changed India. In 2020 she celebrated 18 months of sobriety, telling : “Honestly, I couldn’t be prouder of myself.
“This probably has been the only goal I have ever set myself that I’ve actually completed."
Speaking of her past, she added: “I was having fun and, yeah... like, going out was happening a bit too often, and I started getting a reputation as a party girl. Which is fine when you're younger, but I was getting a bit... I don't judge people who are [partying], but I don't want that.
The Rich List 2024 - top 20
- Gopi Hinduja and family - £37.2 billion
- Sir Leonard Blavatnik - £29.25 billion
- David and Simon Reuben and family - £24.98 billion
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe - £23.52 billion
- Sir James Dyson and family - £20.8 billion
- Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family - £17.2 billion
- Idan Ofer - £14.96 billion
- Lakshmi Mittal and family - £14.92 billion
- Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family - £14.49 billion
- John Fredriksen and family - £12.87 billion
- Kirsten and Jorn Rausing - £12.63 billion
- Alex Gerko - £12.05 billion
- Michael Platt - £12 billion
- Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho - £11.75 billion
- The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family - £10.13 billion
- Marit, Lisbet and Sigrid Rausing - £9.19 billion
- Carrie and Francois Perrodo and family - £9.17 billion
- Nicky Oppenheimer and family - £7.94 billion
- Lord Bamford and family - £7.65 billion
- Denise, John and Peter Coates - £7.47 billion
9
"I also don't want my daughter, if she looks me up online - which I'm sure she will at some point - to find that there are loads of articles about me out drunk.
“That's not right. I want her to be reading articles about my achievements.”
India’s achievements now include running her art gallery, Soho Revue, and it was reported that she and her sister were spearheading the reopening of Madame Jojo’s nightclub, which was forced to close in 2014.
It’s a far cry from the teen who was thrown out of school for having an “uncontrollable attitude”.
“I was told I never had to work, ever," she told the Times.
Clarifying it wasn't her grandfather who used to say that, she added: “It was more of a joke. But when people make jokes and you're a child, you start to adopt those lines. But I always wanted to work, I've always had a free spirit.”
Now she believes her attitudes to money are different, having read The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge.
“It's changed the way I view it,” she said. “I've learnt to value a pound now.”
Lavish parties
9
9
But that doesn’t mean India’s life has stopped being glamorous.
She still enjoys jet-setting around the world, sharing recent snaps from a trip to Italy showing a luxurious villa-style property and a private jet.
In December 2021, she celebrated her 30th birthday with a huge Harry Potter-themed Yule Ball.
India wore a custom-made ball gown illuminated by multicoloured LED lights, and the party included a tattoo bar, where society model Frankie Herbert got a "permanent reminder" of the night.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Among the guests was the owner of Annie's Ibiza, Annie Doble, who was greeted by a live boa constrictor which was then draped around her neck.
Oh, how the other half live!
9
Topics