At last! Mick falls for a fellow wrinkly
... but star’s love for 750-year-old tree could land him in trouble with Special Branch
HE’S the rock star usually found partying with a string of attractive young women, so Sir Mick Jagger’s latest companion certainly bucks the trend.
For in an unlikely move, the Rolling Stones frontman has declared his love… for a 750year-old tree.
Perhaps finding affinity with a fellow wrinkly, the 73-yearold shared a picture of himself standing next to Richmond Park’s Royal Oak – one of London’s oldest trees – with his one million followers on social media site Instagram. Sir Mick, whose latest girlfriend is 29-year-old ballet dancer Melanie Hamrick, captioned the image: ‘With my favourite tree in Richmond Park. There seem to be some branches missing this year.’
But despite his concerns for the health of the tree, it seems Sir Mick may be unwittingly contributing to the problem – by illegally jumping over a wooden fence that protects the Royal Oak from damage.
Brian Muelaner, of the Ancient Trees Forum, fears copycats, saying: ‘Mick’s picture may encourage others.’ He worries that although one pension-age rock star trespassing poses no real problem, thousands of people treading the same ground will compact the soil, meaning the roots cannot take up oxygen.
It an offence under Royal Parks regulations to ‘interfere with any tree’ without the permission of the Environment Secretary. It’s also illegal to climb Royal Parks trees – a diktat fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richards might need to heed, since he famously fell from a branch in Fiji in 2006.
A Royal Parks spokesman admitted Sir Mick had broken the law but said police would use discretion if they saw anyone climbing over the fence.
The rock star, who has a home in Richmond, was not available for comment.