Diana’s marriage to Charles was ‘essentially arranged’, says Jemima Khan as she opens up about debut film
Filmmaker Jemima Khan has told Sky News she would have “benefitted” from being “introduced to suitable candidates” for marriage – and that Princess Diana’s marriage to Charles was “essentially arranged”.
Khan’s new film What’s Love Got To Do With It is her version of “rom-com Pakistan” – inspired by events in her own life, during her 10 years living in Lahore married to ex-husband and former prime minister Imran Khan.
The film centres around the protagonist Zoe – a filmmaker played by actress Lily James – as she navigates the modern dating world, parallel to her neighbour and childhood friend Kazim (Shazad Latif) as he pursues an arranged marriage with a bride from Pakistan.
Khan’s story explores “the pros and cons of both styles” – dating, and “whether it’s too much choice with apps”, or, conversely, “too little choice with arranged marriage”.
Khan’s new film stars Lily James and Shazad Latif Pic: YouTube
One motivation for the film was Khan’s friend Princess Diana.
The socialite – daughter of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and sister of Conservative MP and government minister Zac Goldsmith – maintained a close friendship with Princess Diana, who visited her twice while she was living in Pakistan.
It was this relationship, Khan told Sky News, that showed her just how universal this style of marriage was cross-culturally.
Princess Diana going to dinner with Jemima Khan during a solo visit to Pakistan in 1996 Pic: AP
“Their (King Charles and Princess Diana) marriage was essentially arranged”, Khan said.
“It used to happen here, even with our Royal Family.
“I know it can often seem like a really alien concept but most marriages even in the world today are arranged if you look at the global population.
“It wasn’t so long ago that it was kind of the norm even in the UK.”
Khan’s film attempts to dispel the myths surrounding arranged marriages, which she says are often categorised into a “love marriage good” versus “arranged marriage bad” binary.
The newly married Prince and Princess of Wales kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding ceremony in 1981
“There’s a real issue where arranged marriage keeps getting conflated with forced marriage,” Khan said.
Before moving to Pakistan, she thought they were “quite a standard, fairly negative idea about arranged marriage, and how it fits into the modern world”.
However, upon relocating aged 21, she saw arranged marriages “up close” and changed her mind.
Khan says she saw “very successful and happy arranged marriages” – but, to her surprise, the same narrative was not reflected in popular culture.
Her debut feature film, therefore, is a “celebration of Pakistan… outside of dark politics. The joyful, colourful, hospitable, fun place that I know is part of Pakistani life”, she said.
Imran and Jemima Khan on their wedding day in Richmond, southwest London, on June 1995. Pic: AP
Khan told Sky News that producing the film – which has been over a decade in the making – has forced her to reflect on her own life experiences and choices.
“As I get older, I think, if I had parents who could have agreed – and were functional and good at these things – I definitely could have benefitted from being introduced to suitable candidates.”
The 49-year-old added that this would be in the “new incarnation” of arranged marriage – which she, and by extension through the character Kazim, explore as “assisted marriage”.
This, Khan explains, “is basically an introduction of someone suitable and the couple then decide”.
Filmmaker Jemima Khan pictured with her ex-husband, Imran Khan Pic: AP
The film, both implicitly and explicitly, challenges the very “real issue” of Islamophobia in film and TV.
Khan told Sky News that television where “Muslims are the good guys” is rare to come by.
“It’s always the Pakistani who’s the terrorist or the suicide bomber, or the fanatic.
“There’s that particular line (in the film)… “We’ve got to leave the airport… we have to leave early because I need to leave time to be randomly selected.
Emma Thompson plays Cath, Zoe’s mum. Pic: YouTube
“I’m aware from experience of travelling with my kids, particularly to America where we have to leave extra time in between any flight connections because they have Pakistani names that are not Anglicised – Sulaiman and Kasim Khan – they do get taken off and questioned in a way that I don’t.
“It’s hard to make a film where Muslims are the good guys in America… where they’re much more familiar with Muslims playing the baddies. Islamophobia I think is a real issue. I think it’s every bit as big an issue as racism.”
‘What’s Love…’, is Khan’s personal homage to a culture – and its people – she says helped raise her.
What’s Love Got To Do With It will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 24 February.
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Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
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