Hours after victory, Khan’s ex is raining on his parade

WHEN Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan’s second wife, Reham, revealed plans to write a memoir about their brief marriage, his first wife, heiress Jemima Goldsmith, threatened to take her to court if the ‘libellous’ book was published in the UK.

Now their bitter rivalry is resurgent following Imran’s claimed victory in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections yesterday.

Hearing that the former sportsman, 65, had won a vote marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence, the 44-year-old daughter of late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith congratulated him on social media.

‘22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons’ father is Pakistan’s next PM,’ wrote Jemima. ‘It’s an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief and refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered politics in the 1st place.’

However, Jemima’s praise was vehemently opposed by Reham, who issued a blistering attack on her former husband, to whom she was married for less than a year in 2015. ‘There are not many things Imran says that I agree with, but he was right when he said that I was the biggest mistake of his life,’ said the Pakistani journalist, 45.

‘We could not have been more different. I follow my heart but Imran is as cold as a reptile in his calculations. Imran had thought I would be happy to be a celebrity wife. In reality, I was not cut out to be a politician’s wife who would look the other way and keep her opinions to herself.

‘And so, what is my reaction to the news of Imran Khan finally getting what he wanted? Relief that I am not with him at this time. He will be remembered as the man who stole the people’s mandate.

‘For me, it is important to be with a man who commands respect because of his intellect or ability. It is impossible to be with someone who compromises his integrity and becomes the butt of jokes.

‘But Pakistan, however, is now stuck with him. They have no option of walking away from their PM-to-be like I did.’

Jemima, whose nine-year marriage to Imran ended in 2004, did not respond to Reham’s attack on the father of her two sons, Sulaiman and Qasim.

Nor did Imran, who earlier this year married his spiritual adviser, Bushra Manika, 39.