Callme Geraldine!
Whoa there! One no longer answers to ‘Geri’ (and certainly not to Ginger Spice) now that one is a fully paid-up member of the Posh Power country set – so...
AS OUTRAGEOUS Ginger Spice, the closest she got to the upper classes was patting Prince Charles on the backside. But since marrying motorsports boss Christian Horner, former pop star Geri Halliwell has adopted a far more restrained style in keeping with her husband’s well-to-do country set.
What’s more, it is understood that the one-time Spice Girl no longer wishes to be known as plain old Geri, and wants to be addressed as ‘Geraldine’ instead. In a telling picture posted on her Instagram page, a Valentine’s balloon for her husband bears the words: ‘Christian I love you, love Geraldine.’
As a friend says: ‘She’s ready to be Geraldine. She asks friends to get out of the habit of calling her Geri.’
And there is plenty more evidence of her new-found sophistication across her social media accounts. Forget the handbag dogs and poolside bikini shots of old, the 44-yearold is seen embracing her new role as lady of the manor at the couple’s extensive country estate outside Banbury, Oxfordshire.
They show the mother of two nestling up to horses, feeding the pigs and taking long walks with the couple’s pedigree Airedale terriers – all while wearing a pair of £329 leather wellies from Dubarry’s, the footwear favoured by the Royals, and preppy outfits by British brand Jack Wills.
The well-heeled country image is completed with photographs of her out clay pigeon shooting, and baking cakes in her Aga.
It is all a far cry from her beginnings on a Watford council estate.
Geraldine is the name her Spanish mother Anna and late father Laurence officially recorded on her birth certificate in 1972. But she used the name Geri during her fledgling career as a glamour model and then as a hostess on a Turkish TV game show.
In 1994, she bagged a role as one of the Spice Girls – ‘the gobby one’ as Simon Cowell acidly described her – and hasn’t looked back since. When in the group, she grabbed the headlines for a litany of outrageous behaviour, including bursting on to the stage at the 1997 Brit awards in a very skimpy Union Jack dress.
In 1999 she namechecked the Spice Girls’ most memorable hit as she declared that she had been ‘the biggest wannabe out of everybody. I wanted fame and fortune so badly I would have done anything… it’s so easy to get lost and not keep my feet on the ground.’
Words to remember now perhaps, as she embraces her new life with Red Bull Formula One team boss Christian. Only last week the new mum showed just how grounded she was as she took newborn son, Montague, for a walk in a limited edition, £6,000 Aston Martin pram.
Here we imagine the thoughts of new-look ‘Geraldine’ to accompany her social media posts…