“I’M NOT A HEALING GURU – I’M JUST A CURIOUS CAT”
enough. “I had a moment here on Sunday morning, when I’d woken up really early. It was a super-clear sky, and I watched the night turn to day. The whole sky was pink,” says Charlotte, explaining how the valley was covered with a blanket of dragon’s breath, a soft mist. “It was transcendental. I felt full of so much faith and joy and hope.”
She particularly hopes her mum will stay. The two were incredibly close when Charlotte was growing up – Maria guided Charlotte at the start of her career – before falling out when Charlotte was 16. The rift is long healed, but Maria has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder: “While traditional methods like talking therapies and antidepressants haven’t really worked, I think this experience could really spark something.”
James, Charlotte’s dad, is less into retreats, but has been especially supportive, helping Charlotte build a sleeping platform for guests in the woods: “He’s my unconventional cheerleader. When it’s been a lot, he’s been like, ‘You’ve got balls of steel. You’re doing brilliantly. Just carry on.’” James has shown his own steely determination over the past few years, fighting amyloidosis, a serious condition caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein in the body. “It’s terminal, but he’s got such a will to live. He’s inspirational in the most Cardiff way. He’s as salt of the earth as they come and it’s great because that’s my roots; that’s where I’m from,” Charlotte says.
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
For someone who was once reputedly worth £25 million, Charlotte is remarkably grounded. She still performs, although her gigs, as part of Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon, have been relatively low-key. She smokes and isn’t interested in sticking to a regime to look after her voice: “I live my life and I have a lush time. I never wanted to develop a neurosis around singing, which would have been so easy to do.”
That’s not to say she doesn’t care. “Nature is a balm to me, but singing has been…,” she breaks off. “Oh my gosh, I feel so much gratitude for having this constant companion.” Charlotte’s voice might have been her gateway to fame, but singing has also enabled her to cope with the stress and the scrutiny that came with it. “I think, in a way, I’ve been self-healing since
I was a little girl,” she says. “I had some crazy experiences and it was a lot of pressure… All the celebrity tabloid stuff, it was terrible. There was a lot of shame… It is really difficult for your mental health.”
Now Charlotte is in a stronger place and is passing on her philosophy. Her two older children – after Ruby, now 15, came Dexter, 14 – are “massively into nature”. The Church-powell household in Dinas Powys, near Cardiff, is alive with music, play and the scamper of paws (the family have a goldendoodle, a cavapoo and a spoodle). Johnny does much of the cooking – his signature dish is a vegetarian roast dinner, sometimes with ingredients from the family allotment. In recent years, Charlotte has spent hours tending the plants: “I sit in the soil like it’s a sandpit because I don’t like using tools. I’m in there with my hands. I feel like the soil’s getting more from you that way.” She cites a paper she has just read to back this up: “I’m not religious, but I have this overwhelming sense that everything will be okay. That is my constant. It will all, eventually, be fine.”