Life rocks with star Rod the Mod
Lancaster provides a peek inside Stewart’s world
Penny Lancaster is leaning over the kitchen table of the Los Angeles home she shares with Rod Stewart, making a cardboard fishtail for their three- yearold son.
“Stand up on your tippy- toes,” Stewart laughingly tells little Aiden, hopping about the floor in one trouser leg, “so that we know how big your merman tail needs to be.”
There’s warmth and an intimacy to the scene that’s notably absent from most Beverly Hills homes.
The 43- year- old Lancaster is a medley of long, honey- brown limbs. In photographs and on red carpets, Lancaster has the ease and confidence of the model she once was, but in the flesh this mother of two is shy and softly spoken and the peculiar meekness of very tall women — as though every move is a silent apology for her extraordinary physique.
Lancaster is enjoying her burgeoning TV career as a panelist on the U. K. television show Loose Women.
“What I love most about Loose Women is that it’s the kind of chats you have with your girlfriends — where you touch on everything from lighthearted to very serious,” she says. “At the end of the day I’m a mom and an Essex girl and I have the same morals and values as anyone else.”
But for the next few years, motherhood will remain her priority. “Being a mom is what I do full- time right now. When the boys are both at school every day I will find another career avenue to explore.”
With Stewart’s schedule as hectic as it is, it’s not always easy to keep the children as grounded — and British — as the pair would like. “We don’t actually have anyone American working for us,” Lancaster says, “and our nanny’s British.”
The couple were reportedly discussing the possibility of moving back to the U. K., where they own a property that once belonged to Winston Churchill. But for now Lancaster said they are “doing quite well as we are, moving the children back and forth.”
She and Stewart have a pact never to be more than 10 days apart, so when the rasping rocker goes on tour in Australia early next year, Lancaster and the boys will go with him.
“It means having to take schoolwork with us, but getting an education on the road can be very stimulating and experiencing all those different cultures is important. Every day I’ll take the boys to a different museum or gallery and then I’ll make sure Alastair does his homework. It might get to the point where I’ll have to get a tutor,” she shrugs, “but we’ll see.”
As the Illford- born daughter of a lawyer and a secretary now living a very different lifestyle, Lancaster is mindful of spoiling the boys.
“Alastair ( 9) will often voluntarily give away his birthday or pocket money to WellChild — one of the charities we support. But sometimes if he wants to upgrade something on his iPad I’ll say ‘ 99 cents is 99 cents. If you want it, you can pay for it.’ So I’ll write him a list of chores like making the bed or unloading the dishwasher.
“We have housekeepers but I want the boys to be responsible and get that work ethic early. They should grow up believing that they need to get a job, not only to contribute something to society but to be able to wake up in the morning with a purpose instead of just thinking: ‘ Well, my dad’s rich.’”
She’s less strict with her husband of eight years.
“I don’t really have to impose any boundaries on Rod,” she says, grinning. “Honestly, he hardly has any irritating habits. I mean all those years on stage means that he likes to have the TV on much louder than me. I can literally hear the ( soccer) commentary on the other side of the house and it drives him mad when I keep turning it down. But I’m very lucky in all sorts of ways: Rod actively enjoys shopping for clothes with me.”
Does the famously dapper dresser take longer to get ready than she does? “Well, his hair is a Thing,” she says. “He has to have the hair right and there might be a few outfit changes before he decides on the final one. Also he’s colour blind, so he’ll often come out in two different gingham patterns. Then he’ll take one look at my face and say: ‘ Right — I’ll go and change.’ But I love that Rod takes pride in his appearance.